


Heavens Bringer

by shipambrosia_bree



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, F/M, Fairy Heart, Grimoire Heart, Heavenly Body Magic, Jellal's magic, Lumen Histoire, Multiple chapters, Pregnant Juvia, tartaros, this story came just from my desire to write jellal's magic in a fight scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipambrosia_bree/pseuds/shipambrosia_bree
Summary: Jellal, Meredy, and Erik are away investigating a threat against Fairy Tail when they realize it was a trap to get the three former Crime Sorciere members away from the guild during the real attack. Upon realizing who is behind the plot, Jellal rushes back to protect the place that has been Erza's family after everything his former self did, and given him a true second chance at life.Villains return, and new secrets surrounding the Fairy Heart are discovered.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Two months ago today I was participating in my first fandom week, Gruvia Week 2018, when I decided to shoot a message to a fellow writer, and I’m so glad I met @sweetmemories2606. She is always encouraging me to keep writing and allowing me to have the honor of reading her stories for her (read: Demons, What Had to Be Done, and many more!) as well as cry over Fairy Tail to her as I watch it lmao if any of you haven’t, check out her tumblr, ff.net, and AO3!
> 
> We decided to celebrate by dedicating fanfics to each other, and I’m giving her one based on one of her favorite ships, Jellal and Erza. (With a few others dusted in because I can’t help myself). I love Jellal’s magic and really wanted to write a fight scene for him.
> 
> This story is set in the future of the series. For context, Jellal, Meredy, and Cobra (known as Erik now) have joined Fairy Tail. I give you Heavens Bringer.
> 
> Happy Anniversary to my Soupmate, @sweetmemories2606! Here’s to many more of our writing, crazy word antics, and just a really great friendship :) Part 2 coming soon!

There was instantaneous relief that swept over the small group as they appeared seemingly out of thin air. A pause, a moment for the three wizards to take in the city on the horizon, but the moment of fragile solace was quickly shattered when the leader of the small band gave a slight grunt as his only warning before rushing forward. Taken off guard, it took Meredy and Erik a moment to recover before the two quickly broke out into a run after Jellal. He’d teleported their small team as close as he could get to Magnolia in the exhausted state he was in, as they had no time to spare. Fairy Tail, their home, the place where all the people they loved resided, was in grave danger.  
  It had not been long after Queen Hisui formally pardoned the members of Crime Sorciere that the independent group of wizards had dissolved and its members joined other, legal guilds. With all sorts of emotional and personal ties to Fairy Tail, Jellal, Meredy, and Erik - the man formerly known as Cobra of the Oracion Seis - had decided to join it together. They kept the spirit of Crime Sorciere alive in their team, even by taking jobs almost exclusively pertaining to dark guilds as had been Crime Sorciere’s goals before. Fairy Tail had given them a true second chance. It was more than home, it was everything to them. A home, just as it was to the dozens of other fairies who filled out its ranks.  
  Jellal ran desperately toward the city before him, the intense adrenaline pumping through his blood enough to stifle the screaming protests in his muscles. He and his team had just emerged from an intense fight, and he was more than sure they were heading straight into another one. His vast magical power had been depleted, not because their opponents had been impossibly tough but because they had been tough enough to pose a challenge to the newly-appointed S-class Fairy Tail mage and there had simply been too many of them. Had Meredy and Erik not been with him, Jellal was certain he would never have made it in time.  
  "Jellal!“ Meredy cried from behind him. "Won’t you please tell us what is going on?”  
  He heard his other companion muttering curses under his breath. “Damn you, can’t hear a thing…!”  
  "Meredy,“ he spoke to her, though he kept his face forward, toward Magnolia. He refused to take his eyes off it, as if worried the city would disappear. "Cast your Sensory Link on Juvia.”  
  "What? What’s happened to Juvia?!“  
  He could still picture the scene in his mind. Erik had annihilated more than half of the enemy by himself, utilizing his Poison Dragon Slayer magic to overwhelm the woefully underprepared enemies. Jellal, furious, had grabbed a defeated mage and demanded to know why they had been sent into a trap. Master Makarov had sent the three of them on intelligence to investigate the mumblings of an underground assassin guild that had taken the job of murdering Fairy Tail’s top wizards, but it was very clear that this was only a part of a bigger picture, one that sought to completely annihilate the guild itself. Trembling in Jellal’s grasp, the wizard had only said one thing: "One Magic”.  
  That had been enough for him to immediately understand what was going on, though in his haste he had left his two partners completely in the dark; and underprepared for what they would encounter. Jellal didn’t realize how fatal a mistake he had made because a new wave of panic washed over him; along with the faces of the people he cared about, everyone who was in danger now.  
  Natsu, with his infectious sense of hope and justice, and the fiercest intensity and loyalty that existed in the world. Jellal counted on him for his power, his unquenchable flames, ever since he himself had lost to them. Without him, Fairy Tail really wouldn’t be Fairy Tail.  
  Lucy, who had the most heart of any mage on the continent. She was a supportive pillar for everyone, and believed in the people around her so much that it was simply impossible not to live up to her expectations. And she had a fight within her that burned so brightly, he was sure she could blind an opponent with that alone.  
  Gray, solemn and aloof, but with ice as strong as steel. He had seen the way Ultear and Gray regarded each other, they had become a family. And Jellal had cared about Ultear too, so he’d be damned by extension if he let anything happen to the closest thing to family she had ever come to know.  
  Wendy, with her bright, honest eyes, and motherly maturity despite her age. Even though it was his Edolas counterpart that she had traveled with when younger, he had quickly grown close with her as well. She was just another person to worry over him and his self-sacrificing nature, but Jellal liked the feeling of having a little sister all the same.  
  Other faces from Fairy Tail flashed past his eyes. The Exceeds - Happy, Carla, Pantherlily - and Gajeel, Levy, Juvia, Cana, Mirajane, Elfman, Lisanna, Laxus… every face who had accepted him, who had welcomed him into their guild as an old friend, despite the pain he had inflicted on those who he cared about most now.  
  On Erza.  
  The blood pounded in his ears as his mind settled on an image of her face. Suddenly Jellal felt as though he couldn’t breathe, like he was running through water. Hopeless, like his effort was all for naught. Erza was strong, arguably the strongest in Fairy Tail, but he still hated the thought of her getting hurt with every fiber of his very being. It was something he saw in his nightmares on the worst of nights, and now those nightmares had a very good chance of becoming real.  
  "Just do it!“ He snapped at Meredy. However, he regretted this, instantly feeling guilty for taking such a harsh tone with the girl who had been his partner for so many years. When Jellal glanced back toward her as they ran, her expression was cold.  
  "Meredy, I-” he started, but she cut him off.  
  "From the depths of my heart I offer to thee these intense emotions and attachments to one I hold so dear. I cast Sensory Link!“  
  Erik let out a sharp scoff, and he knew it was directed toward him for his treatment of Meredy, but unfortunately Jellal couldn’t linger too long on what he had done. Truthfully, once this situation was resolved and they were back celebrating in the guild hall once more, he’d apologize and attempt to fix his mistake. Meredy was his partner though, and they were best friends. Closest thing to family for one another. She’d forgive him. And Erik… well he knew the dragon slayer was probably just dying on the inside from anxiety because he was unable to ensure Kinana’s safety.  
  For several minutes, the pounding of their feet was the only thing he heard. The silence crept up on Jellal, stressing him out more than he already was. He heard Meredy suddenly inhale sharply, and Jellal slowed down in his next step to turn around and face her, her name already on his tongue. "Meredy-”  
  He turned around just in time to watch her drop toward the ground like dead weight.  
  Luckily, Erik and his incredible slayer reflexes had her swept up in the next moment without missing a step, her head lolling in his arms as he ran toward Jellal.  
  "The hell’re you doing?!“ He growled. "Keep going! You’re the one insisting Fairy Tail is in danger!”  
  He immediately took his teammate’s words to heart and fell into running beside him, looking grimly at Meredy as she groaned and blinked awake once more. Erik didn’t bother putting her down though, now that they were so close to Magnolia.  
  "So what does it mean for Juvia if that link knocked Meredy out cold?“ Erik was the first to voice the concern that all three of them were pondering.  
  Jellal noticed that Meredy had severed her connection with the water mage already. He deduced that she must have felt something was wrong and cut it off before she fell completely unconscious. "Whatever it is… it can’t be good.” He spoke grimly.  
  "She’s… unconscious…“ Meredy mumbled. "But… oh no her baby! What will happen to her baby, Jellal?”  
  He felt his heart sink as he remembered that Juvia was indeed about five months pregnant with Gray Fullbuster’s child. And Gray was an extremely protective, extremely anxious expecting father; whatever had gotten to Juvia, had to have beaten the powerful ice mage first.  
  Jellal pushed himself to press forward even faster as their feet hit the cobblestone road of Magnolia.  
  "I can smell it,“ Erik grunted nearly immediately. "And hear it. Something is happening to Fairy Tail. You were right, someone is attacking them… and dammit, I can’t hear Salamander or Black Steel fighting! What the hell is going on?”  
  An explosion sudden ruptured the peaceful midday air of Magnolia, an explosion whose point of origin lay at the far north of town. Fairy Tail. Citizens of the city around them began to panic and scream.  
  "We’re too late!“ Meredy cried.  
  "Not if I have anything to say about it!” Jellal threw his hands together, summoning every last bit of magic in his core that he could spare to teleport the three of them the last few miles across town to the guild hall’s courtyard.  
  Erik dropped Meredy back to her feet as the three mages, all gasping violently to catch their breath, took in the scene awaiting them. Smoking debris lay everywhere, the building itself was heavily damaged along with the fence and sign smoldering as well. The worst part was the people sprawled across the ground. Gray. The Strauss siblings. Laxus and his Thunder Legion. Gajeel and Pantherlily, and nearby was Levy who lay alongside Jet and Droy, her teammates of Shadow Gear. A chill ran down Jellal’s spine as his attention was diverted to an older man who blocked their view of the guild hall’s doors.  
  Erza lay defeated just like the others, her unconscious body at the man’s feet. In his hands he held Natsu by the neck, examining the dragon slayer. Soon Jellal realized that Natsu, too, had been defeated.  
  "Salamander was defeated?!“ Erik guffawed, voicing Jellal’s own shock. "And Erza Scarlet too? Who is this guy?”  
  At the young man’s words however, their enemy dropped the Fire Dragon Slayer to the ground beside Erza. Slowly, he turned until Jellal was staring back into the face of their enemy. He knew. He had known since he heard the words “One Magic”.  
  "N-no! It can’t be!“ Meredy gasped, her voice trembling and she took a step back. "T-this is impossible!”  
  "Meredy, why do you seem so scared to see me?“ The older man questioned. "I always knew I would find you again one day. How sweet of you to join my old guild. Where is your incessant mother Ultear?”  
  His gaze shifted a bit toward the tall young man who stood in front of his teammates. “Jellal Fernandes. After all these years, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”  
  And finally he looked over the third member. “My sincerest apologies, I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.”  
  Anger and hatred suddenly rushed through Jellal’s veins, everything that they had first taken in upon arrival finally registering to him. His vision turned red, though he was unsure if it was because of the intense magic surrounding him as a reminder of his fight with the former Oracion Seis, his anger, or because of the shade of Erza’s hair as his mind immediately focused in on concern for her state. He was sure she wasn’t dead, but as he had expected the sight of her beaten bloody and unconscious drove him nearly mad. Jellal narrowed his eyes toward the old man, allowing his heavenly magic to pool within his hands.  
  "Hades,“ he growled.  
  
  While Jellal didn’t back down when the former master of Grimoire Heart summoned a cloud of darkness to hold menacingly toward the three mages, he felt both Meredy and Erik once again shrink back.  
  "Master Hades…” Meredy mumbled. “How?”  
  "Maybe if you live the day my dear, you’ll get to find out,“ the old man sneered. "However, I don’t let traitors live, so I doubt that you will.”  
  "Meredy, Erik,“ Jellal barked at them, preparing for a fight. "Go inside the guild hall. See if anyone in there can fight with us, otherwise just make sure no one is dead.”  
  He didn’t have to tell the dragon slayer twice, who rushed past the two men about to duel and into the guild. Jellal knew the best way to get Erik primed for a fight here was to let him make sure Kinana was, at the very least, not dead. Meredy, on the other hand, hesitated, her terrified crimson eyes not leaving the face of her former guild master.  
  "Meredy! Go!“ He barked at her, slamming his fist into his outstretched palm and summoned nine heavenly swords which floated behind him. "Divine  power of the nine lightning stars! Jiu Leixing!”  
  His use of magic seemed to snap her out of her terrified trance, before she too disappeared into Fairy Tail.  
  Hades chuckled. “How amusing. You wish not to see anyone else get hurt, so you send your teammates away. Do you not trust in their abilities, Jellal? I see you have not truly changed from the coward you once were.”  
  "Of course I believe in them,“ he answered coolly, pushing down his anger even as he stepped closer toward Hades, closer to where Erza was strewn across the ground. "Who I don’t trust is you, Precht Gaebolg.”  
  "Ah, so you know who I am.“  
  "Of course I do. I joined Fairy Tail, therefore I learned the history. About Mavis Vermillion and what you did to her.”  
  "What I did,“ Hades’s voice suddenly rose in volume, booming across the courtyard where they were standing off. "Was try to help an old friend who was dying! Who had been killed by the monster that is- was Zeref!”  
  With that, Hades’s dark magic cloud rushed toward Jellal, the gaseous particles turning to needles. With a sweep of his arms the nine lightning swords floating behind him rushed forward, following his movements as though they were puppets on strings. Upon destroying the attack, Jellal heaved a heavy breath though he stayed standing. Every nerve in his body was screaming, but he didn’t have the luxury to wait for his magical power to return to him.  
  "What you did was experiment on a friend who died at the hands of the man who loved her,“ Jellal continued. "And you were defeated long ago, Hades. First at Tenrou Island by Natsu. Then you were killed by Zeref. What are you doing here? What are your goals? The Lumen Histoire no longer exists, or had you not heard?”  
  With that Jellal launched his own attack,  swinging his swords as they came ungrouped and sporadically attacked Hades from all sides. The Grimoire Heart master simply waved his hands out,  creating a shield of darkness that protected him, returning the favor and destroying Jellal’s spell.  
  "Yes, I am very well aware of what happened that day,“ he answered. "Which is why I have come. I intend to recreate the Lumen Histoire from the new Fairy Heart.”  
  The dark mage attacked Jellal once more with a powerful beam of dark magical energy, but he was prepared and expertly leapt into the air to avoid the attack utilizing his Heavenly Body Meteor spell. Jellal landed expertly on the other side of his opponent, now physically standing between him and Fairy Tail, along with the majority of the wizards that Hades had knocked out.  
  "I will not let that happen,“ he scowled, holding his fists up once again in preparation for an attack. "You want Fairy Tail, then you will have to get through me. I won’t let you lay a hand on the Fairy Heart!”  
  He was however, caught off guard when Hades began to laugh. His entire body shook. “You have no idea what the Fairy Heart is, do you boy?”  
  Jellal hadn’t been told as much. Which was fine, he didn’t care. He knew the Lumen Histoire had been a dangerous secret, so the identity of what could cause it again surely would be as well. And such a dark secret didn’t change the fierceness he felt to protect something part of the guild that made his second chance at life truly possible.  
  He heard shuffling behind him, several pairs of feet leaving the guild once more as the doors groaned. Jellal lowered his arms, keeping his eyes on Hades in case he tried anything.  
  "Any luck?“ He asked.  
  "No,” Meredy answered softly. “Everyone’s been defeated inside too. They all don’t look hurt either… it’s like their magic were just drained away from them.”  
  "Even Kinana,“ Erik cut in with a cold anger evident in his voice. "You bastard! I’ll kill you for touching her!”  
  The former Grimoire Heart master appeared slightly amused by Erik’s outburst of rage. “My apologies Jellal, Meredy, that I still have no knowledge of whom your companion is.  
  "Perhaps you would know him as he was when he was a member of the Oracion Seis; the dragon slayer Cobra,” Jellal answered coolly, before narrowing his eyes once more. “You’ll pay for this, Hades. An attack like this against Fairy Tail is not taken lightly.”  
  "There’s another thing Jellal,“ Meredy added quietly. "Lucy and Cana are missing.”  
  He couldn’t hide his surprise even from Hades at her information. “How do you know they aren’t just away on a mission?”  
  "Because I can smell them,“ Erik answered. "They were here not even an hour ago. Both of them. But they just vanished, their scents don’t even leave this courtyard.”  
  Hades began to chuckle, igniting anger and hatred once again within Jellal’s chest.  
  "What the hell did you do to them?!“ The young team leader yelled at Hades. "Where are Lucy and Cana?”  
  He didn’t wait for an answer though. Instead he threw together his fists in front of him, each with the thumb and two fingers extended. “Behold the destructive chaos of the six star cluster! Pleiades!”  
  From behind him, six rays of light twisted and swirled in a circle, quickly converging on where Hades stood and exploding. When the dust began to settle, the older man simply coughed.  
  "Damn!“ Jellal growled angrily.  
  Hades swiped his arm to the side, clearing more dust away from his eyes so he might have a clear view of the Fairy Tail mages.  
  "Cana Alberona and Lucy Heartfilia hail from powerful wizard dynasty families. They both contain an immense amount of magical power, and both believe in the true nature of Fairy Tail. But there is one true indication of their possibility of being the next Fairy Heart that they both share; Cana Alberona has the ability to cast one of the three ultimate spells, Fairy Glitter. Lucy Heartfilia is also able to do this, as she has cast Fairy Sphere. They are the only ones alongside Mavis Vermillion to have casted either spell. One of the two of them is the next Fairy Heart, and therefore one of the two of them can be turned into a new Lumen Histoire. One with possibly even more power in possession than the one made from Mavis’s soul.” He chuckled. “And I’ve already taken both young ladies, and put them inside my demon dimension to begin my research.”  
  "Then I have no choice,“ Jellal crouched like a sports runner before activating Meteor again. "I will defeat you!”  
  The informal truce broken, Jellal and Hades collided to create a shockwave so powerful it knocked both Meredy and Erik back a few feet. They watched for a few moments in horror as golden light and the purple-hued darkness clashed. Jellal’s Meteor gave him incredible speed and stamina, increasing simple melee hits to extremely powerful blows. But Hades was grounded and well-matched for such attacks, with solid defensive capabilities.  
  "Jellal!“ Meredy screamed. "You can’t do this! You’re nearly out of magical power! If he doesn’t kill you, you’ll deplete your own life force!”  
  "Let us help!“ Erik yelled, before sucking in a deep breath. "Poison Dragon’s Roar!”  
  Hades threw up another shroud of darkness to block the dragon slayer’s attack. This allowed enough of an opening for Jellal to gain a few quick strikes in, first a kick from above and then several punches that sent Hades flying back.  
  Their team’s leader paused in his attacks, long enough to look back to them. “No! You two need to protect the rest of the guild. Try to wake someone up. I will handle him.”  
  The dark wizard yelled in fury, attacking Jellal who once again activated Meteor in order to dodge the strikes. It wasn’t obvious, but both Meredy and Erik could tell his spell was slowing down. Jellal was wearing himself to the bone.  
  "If we don’t do something, Hades will kill him,“ Meredy exclaimed in horror.  
  "Meredy, cast a Sensory Link on the three of us,” Erik told her seriously. “Even if it means we have to take every beating with him, we can give Jellal strength through our own magic.”  
  Impressed with her teammate’s idea, the pink-haired mage wasted no time in doing so. “Let our feelings become power, and let our bonds channel that power to the magic of heavenly light! I cast Sensory Link: Magic Well!”  
  With both Meredy and Erik sporting a glowing pink bracelet around both their wrists, they began transferring their own magic into Jellal. He was once again able to gather enough strength for his Meteor spell to speed up, and successfully landed another set of powerful hits on the former master of Grimoire Heart. It was only after he’d sent Hades flying once more that Jellal noticed the Sensory Link, and he shot his teammates a bewildered look.  
  "Meredy, undo the link! It’s too dangerous, and I won’t let the two of you get hurt because of me!“  
  "It’s worth the risk,” Erik insisted, narrowing his eyes. “You can barely stand from exhaustion. You need our magic to have a chance to beat him. So just do it already, ya hear me?! For Erza, and for the rest of Fairy Tail. You’re always whining about being worthy of being in the guild; well this is one damn way to make everything up to them!”  
  He let out a breath, a small, grateful grin appearing on his face. Erik was right; after all the years, this dire situation could finally be the thing that lessened his baggage, lessened the pain that came when he thought of all he had forced them to go through - for Erza to go through. She held all the heartbreak he had inflicted on her for years, tortured by his illusionary Siegrain, and yet still found it in her heart to love him. It had always baffled Jellal, because even though he loved her he certainly had never deserved her reciprocated feelings.  
  Especially because he didn’t deserve her, he could never let anything hurt her. And Hades had already done so.  
  "Feelings and emotions breed weakness,“ Hades bellowed, his glowing red Demon’s Eye focused directly on Erza’s unconscious form. "This is only one of the many reasons I left Fairy Tail. Only the One Magic will bring me true power!” With a maniacal laugh, he attacked her with a horrific beam of black lightning.  
  "Heavenly Body Andromeda!“ Jellal called, and when the lightning had disappeared, he stood above Erza with a golden sphere protecting the two of them.  
  "What?!” The dark wizard exclaimed. “No spell should be powerful enough to negate my Demon’s Eye!”  
  "An interesting thing for you to disregard as a former member of Fairy Tail,“ Jellal mused coolly as he removed the shield. "And as someone who has lost a fight to Natsu Dragneel. Our feelings and emotions toward one another make us stronger. Love, and friendship, and working together as guildmates builds bonds that are stronger than any spell you can throw at us. Now, your fight is with me, Hades. Try not to bring anyone else into it, lest you wish to make me angrier than I already am.”  
  As the two men locked in their duel once more, however, Jellal found his opponent had not lost any strength. Even with Meredy and Erik feeding him power through Meredy’s Magic Well, Jellal still felt more fatigued over time. But Hades, though physically injured, gave otherwise no signs he had been much more on the losing side of this fight beforehand. His spells had not decreased in power, his reactions still fast. Though Jellal’s resolve would not falter, there was only so much past his limits he could push himself. It wouldn’t matter if he continued to be successful in his attacks, when his opponent wasn’t even losing power.  
_How is this possible? I have to win… but that’s looking more difficult than I had even thought. We still don’t know how Hades could even be here, since he was killed by Zeref. Does that have something to do with this? Even then, Erza told me Precht Gaebolg had redeemed himself when his spirit saved Natsu and Lucy during the Tartaros fight._  
  He sensed an attack and used Meteor once more to leap out of the way of Hades’s strike, rushing past across the sky in a sporadic motion to prevent being aimed at.  
_Should I cast Grand Chariot? Or even Sema? Or will the only thing either would accomplish be in exhausting myself further? There must be something I can do!_  
  And that was when he saw it. For a split second, Hades’s eyes dulled and his body lurched forward; only for an instant later, the life in him returned, his eyes glowing dark purple before returning to furious Demon’s Eye red.  
  As before when he and his team had been ambushed and the lackey enemy told him “One Magic”, in just an instant Jellal realized exactly what was going on.  
  "Jellal!“ Both Meredy and Erik cried for him at the same time.  
  Distracted by his thoughts and his miraculous recognition of who was really pulling the strings behind this attack on Fairy Tail, Jellal found himself an instant away from a cloud of darkness. He tried to use Meteor to escape once more, but perhaps he had done that too many times now before Hades used a magical chain to encapture him. With a furious yell, the dark wizard threw Jellal’s body into a hard impact with the ground.  
  Jellal simply grunted his pain, too focused by renewed adrenaline. But Meredy and Erik’s cries of anguish as they could not even properly brace themselves for pain they were not physically sensing, but only through the link, rang in his ears. He had to finish this, and he knew exactly how to push the fight forward in his favor.  
  Jellal got back to his feet, and, summoning another wave of magic from the Magic Well, crossed his arms over his head. A large magic circle flashed, with a golden star. In between the cross, a small dark orb began to grow, it began to stretch the shadows on the ground as it gathered light in intense gravity.  
  Meredy gasped. "Jellal! You said you would never cast that spell again!”   
  He had said that. Rather, he had promised himself that as repentance for what he had done the last time he used it. But casting it was the only thing he could think of to reveal Hades’s puppeteer.  
  "Heavenly Body Altaris!“ He yelled, before throwing the massive black hole at Hades’s body.  
  There was the horrific sound of Hades being crushed when his spell landed, one that took him back to the day on the Tower of Heaven. Natsu, then Erza, and finally his old friend stepping in front to protect the two Fairy Tail mages. He had always known Simon was never tricked by the man Ultear had turned him into. Simon had lived most of his life seeing him as a monster. He had Erza’s love, had been forgiven by Sho, Wally, Millianna, and Kagura alike, but because he had killed Simon in his state of madness, Simon would never know him as anyone other than that.  
  Even if this wasn’t really Hades, the man formerly known as Precht Gaebolg, there was some peace in knowing he had defeated the body of the man who was truly to blame for his actions before the Tower of Heaven fell.  
  Hades crumpled to the ground, life suddenly having disappeared from him. Jellal looked around. This wasn’t over. It wasn’t even close to being over. And everything he had realized was proven true when the courtyard was suddenly blanketed in purple mist.  
  "Jellal! What’s going on?” Meredy cried out for him while Erik began swearing once more.  
  "Hades was but a reanimated corpse,“ he continued to look around. "This is the real culprit.”  
  This seemed to catch Erik’s attention, as the dragon slayer stopped cursing. “You can’t possibly mean-”  
  "Looks like we’ve got a little reunion on our hands,“ he spoke cynically, clenching his fists as he glanced over toward Erza once more. She seemed to be gritting her teeth, perhaps in the beginnings of her return to consciousness? Perhaps she could sense a familiar presence that reminded her of the hell she and the rest of Fairy Tail had once endured?  
  "A former member of the Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart, and Tartaros,” a new voice spoke from the mist in front of him. “What an interesting reunion of the Ballam Alliance indeed.”  
  From the purple mist, a man dressed in long dark robes carrying his signature Khakkhara appeared. Once he came into focus, it was easy to see beneath his ornate headdress that he was not in fact a man, but a skeleton.  
  "Well done, Jellal Fernandes, in figuring out my plan,“ spoke the Black Archbishop, Keyes. "You’ve done much to impress me, but I’m afraid that I still hold the two candidates for Fairy Heart within my grasp. The Lumen Histoire will be mine.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally just going to have two parts... but part 2 got too long lol. So hopefully it will be done at 3!

 "Keyes," From behind him, Erik broke the silence surrounding the standoff between the three wizards and the Black Archbishop. "One of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros," he heard a snort of amusement, and Jellal knew exactly what his companions' expression looked like; a cocky grin, offset by the cold fury that would be burning in the young man's eyes. The two of them felt the same about this situation; on top of their protective instincts toward the guild that had taken them in, the demon that stood before them had hurt the person that mattered most in each of their lives. "You've got some nerve, showing your face here."   
  "You three appear to have done well for yourselves, despite everything that has occurred," the skeleton mused with hellishly chilling amusement. "Former dark wizards, all joining the magic guild that destroyed those of the Ballam Alliance. How do you not tremble with anger toward Fairy Tail?"   
  "This not a question you get to ask, considering Tartaros wanted to wipe out the Alliance anyway."   
  "Ah, Jellal Fernandes," the demon shifted his eyeless gaze toward the leader of the team. "A pleasure it is to finally meet such a masterful wizard of your caliber and strength. I heard your name many times over the years, but I had always been sure that when we finally met it'd be because I would revive you as one of my eternal servants after my colleagues of Tartaros killed you."   
  "I assure you I did not expect to ever meet like this," he scowled and clenched his fist. Waves of exhaustion were rolling over him. He had to distract Keyes somehow, so he could devise a plan for defeating him with only his team able to fight. Meredy and Erik were just as exhausted as he was due to the Sensory Link. "I believe you were killed during the war between Fairy Tail and Tartaros? Destroyed by Juvia Lockser?"   
  "Mm... yes," he waved a hand, and purple mist swirled around the unconscious Gray Fullbuster beside them. "I became fascinated with this boy when I learned that Silver's son lived... and poetically I was killed by the girl whose heart was held by him."   
  "Juvia!" Meredy screamed when the guild's doors opened on their own, the purple mist carrying the water mage.   
  "Hm," the Demon Gate made a sound of vague interest. "I could somewhat sense it, but is this Juvia Lockser truly carrying the grandchild of Absolute Zero Silver? The next Fullbuster line? I despise the family so... and yet their story fascinates me all the same."   
  "Bastard..." a new voice spoke up, shaky from weakness and confusion. "Don't you dare touch her."   
  "Gray!" A concerned but relieved exclamation left the Sensory mage's lips as he stirred, struggling to lift himself off the ground. Meredy rushed to his side to support him.    
  "Damn, Fullbuster... we thought everyone was out cold for a while longer," Erik sounded sarcastic, but his body language read impressed.   
  "Are you all right?" Jellal allowed himself to let go of a breath he'd been holding nearly the entire time he'd been fighting Hades. It was reassuring to have one of their guildmates wake up. Perhaps others would as well.   
  "Seen better days, sure, but I've certainly seen worse," He winced, but accepted Meredy's help in sitting up. "One of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros...? But how...?"   
  Keyes chuckled rather darkly, amused by  the fire that burned in Gray's eyes. "Welcome back, son of Silver. I must say it would have been boring had I not gotten to defeat you personally before destroying this guild. I never had the pleasure of facing you during the original war between our guilds, only your lover."   
  He shifted once more, and made Meredy help him to his feet. As the ice wizard gathered his bearings he leaned heavily into her. "Yeah, well, put her down and we can do the honors. Right here, right now."   
  "Gray, you can't," Jellal pointed out.   
  "Certainly not. Your eyes hold such hatred and fury for me, but I'm afraid the rest of your body just would not be able to keep up with that resolve," he gripped Juvia by her chin and examined her, she too seeming disturbed by his presence as Erza had. "What are you to do, though? If she inhales even but one of my bane particles, that could kill the child growing within her."   
  "I said stay away from her!" He snapped, taking a step forward before nearly falling, and Meredy rushed to steady him again. When Keyes chuckled again, Gray grew angrier. "Go to hell!"   
  "He's already-"   
  " _Erik!_ "   
  "All right, all right! Sorry."   
  "It seems I've allowed you to restore enough of your energy if you're willing to joke around at such a time as the situation you find yourselves in," Keyes reared back, his Khakkhara glowing a brilliant but ominous shade of deep blue. His skull face twisted with a nightmarish smile. "I shall say good night to Fairy Tail with the Judgment of the Malefic Star curse. Goodbye to the spawn of Silver Fullbuster!"   
  Exhausted from their fight with Hades, there was little the group could do to avoid the attack. Jellal, thinking fast on his feet however, gathered the most magic he could from Meredy's Magic Well and threw his hands out.   
  "Heavenly Body Andromeda!" He yelled, summoning the golden protective sphere once more. It succeeded in protecting the Fairy Tail members who would have been struck by the curse by canceling it out, but the shield was immediately broken. Jellal stumbled again, his breathing rough and labored.   
  Keyes, he knew, was slow in casting his devastating spells. And he was going to use that. Jellal crossed his arms in front of him, wincing as he gathered more magic. As he brought his clenched fists to his side, he steadied himself to cast.   
  "I summon the divine arrow that pierces the sky!" He brought his arms together out in front of him, outstretched at Keyes's heart - if the demon even had such a thing. "Orion!"   
  From his outstretched hands came a golden arrow. Its aim true, Keyes seemed somewhat shocked by the power behind the spell that struck him. And then another burst of light. Another. Where he had enough power within him to continue his barrage, Jellal was unsure. All he knew was that this was their chance.    
  "Erik! Get Juvia!" He croaked, as he could feel himself nearing his limit. The dragon slayer was just as exhausted as the rest of the group, and yet he summoned strength from within himself to quickly rush forward and snatch the unconscious young woman from Keyes's smoky prison.   
  "You continue to impress me, Jellal Fernandes," the demon chuckled, though he was surrounded with a dark aura. Jellal realized with horror that he was using his Necromancy curse. Sure enough, the body of Hades rose again once more and joined his side.   
  "Meredy, break the Sensory Link," Jellal said darkly.   
  Instead of protesting as he had expected, she wordlessly released the spell. When the pink bracelet on his arm finally faded away, Jellal took a deep breath before summoning one last wave of strength from deep within his own body. It didn't matter how much power he needed, if he stole his own life force to achieve it, he would protect Fairy Tail. Jellal grinned, his eyes blazing, as he pointed two fingers on both hands to the ground. Meredy and Erik made no sound, although he was well aware that the two of them knew exactly what spell he was casting. The very earth around them pulsed with power, and the sky swirled. As he slowly began to raise his right arm in a clockwise arc, the clouds darkened under his magic power.   
  "This... what is this spell?" Gray mumbled.   
  "With it, I command the heavens," Jellal told him, as his arm stopped and a sudden rush of magic power swirled around him. The wind whipped up the clothes and hair of everyone in front of Fairy Tail. High above them, the darkened clouds had become a cyclone.   
  "Jellal, please be careful!" Meredy begged him.   
  "Sema!" He commanded, and the glowing meteor between the clouds complied. The rock plummeted to earth quickly, its target set on the two malevolent beings standing across the courtyard. Digging in his feet, Jellal focused the rest of his strength on containing the blast to avoid accidentally hurting the people or the guild hall around them. A brilliant light lit up the entire area upon impact, an impressive burst of power exposing itself for the world to experience the true power of Jellal Fernandes.   
  "AHHHHH!" He opened his mouth and unconsciously yelled, an attempt to hold on to the power that was so close to slipping through his fingertips. He heard the three guild members standing behind him cry out in anguish as well, but there was little he could do outside of containing the blast to just the immediate area around Keyes and the body of Hades.   
  When the light had finally faded, Hades was once more on the ground. There was a heartbeat of relief, one single moment in time that Jellal believed he had won; however, the Archbishop's staff remained floating in the air. That certainly wasn't a good sign, and his heart sank into his chest as he watched its crystal pulse a gentle, pink light. Purple smoke converged around the staff as the pulse of the light quickened. Ba-dum... ba-dum...   
  The staff itself was like a heartbeat.   
  He stared slack-jawed at the silhouette of the Necromancer's form, choking as bane particles swirled around his body. He felt their effects immediately. How had Juvia survived being inside of the demon's body, when his very soul felt as though it were being torn out of his body at his first exposure?   
  "Meredy... Erik..." Jellal stumbled, dropping to one knee. "I'm sorry. I'm past my limit, I've used up all my power."   
  "Jellal, no!" His partner nearly shrieked. If she was not already supporting Gray, she probably would have rushed to his side.   
  "Hell no! It's not gonna end like this!" The dragon slayer exclaimed, his fists glowing red-purple even as they cradled Juvia Lockser. But when he tried to use his magic, Erik devolved into a coughing fit and nearly dropped the unconscious wizard. The bane particles slowly began to surround all of them... and realizing this, he opened his mouth to eat them. Just as Laxus had once done, Erik engulfed the particles in the air around them in order to prevent Juvia and her unborn baby from breathing them in. But he could not protect Jellal, who took the brunt of the attack and was exposed to the highest density of particles. Knowing his team's leader, Jellal was probably doing that on purpose.   
  "And this is where the last hope for Fairy Tail stands," Keyes swirled back into a tangible form, his entire skull widening into a cruel, disturbing smile. He raised his Khakkhara, which now glowed a deep shade of red. "It is time for you all to die, as all pathetic mortals must."   
  "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"   
  A column of superheated fire magic suddenly appeared from around the group, ignoring the Fairy Tail wizards and converging on the demon, canceling out his attack and catching Keyes off guard; evident by his frustrated exclamation. A blast of heat rushed across the courtyard from the spell, scorching the ground but somehow harmlessly passing over the humans present with nothing more than a gentle warmth. The flames licked the air, evaporating the bane particles instantaneously from just the one spell.   
  "What the hell are you apologizing for?" The newest voice, familiarly confident and vibrant as ever, spoke from behind the group. Meredy, Erik, and Gray whipped their heads around in disbelief, but Jellal realized, as a smile graced his exhausted features, he wasn't all that surprised.   
  "Natsu," he breathed a sigh of relief as the salmon-haired dragon slayer stepped up beside him, crossing his arms. Despite his torn clothes, he looked powered up and glowed with radiant life. Full of magic power that hadn't been there before, when the team of former Crime Sorciere wizards had first arrived.   
  "I'm glad to see your power just keeps on growin' Jellal," he was grinning, but there was cold fury in his eyes just like Erik. "Makes me real proud to call you a member of our family. And after all you've done in fighting for us, no one can ever question your position in Fairy Tail ever again. Now, let me finish up what you've started here!"   
  "How are you even up and moving around, Natsu?" Gray guffawed. "Were you just takin' a fuckin' nap the whole time? You look like you weren't even hurt!"   
  "Levy's awake too," he gestured behind himself to the petite mage, who was cradling Gajeel. Though her face was crinkled with concern and exhaustion, she gave a small wave and quickly used Solid Script to write 'ICE' next to Gray.   
  He nodded as the Devil Slayer began to replenish his own magic with Levy's gift. "She made some fire for me to eat, and now my magic is ready to go!"   
  "Natsu..." Jellal mumbled in shock, mulling over the fire wizard's high words of praise. "Thank you."   
  Natsu gave one more nod of acknowledgment before turning his attention. His expression grew hard, enraged. "Hey skeleton face! I heard somethin' that really pissed me off before I fell unconscious earlier; Lucy screaming for help. Screaming for me and Gray and Erza and the rest of our guild, and Cana too! Your first mistake was hurting my friends; but hurting Lucy right in front of me? I'm really fired up now!"   
  "Very well, Natsu Dragneel," the demon chuckled amusedly. "I heard you defeated the Dragon God Acnologia, and I would certainly love to see that power for myself."   
  "I guess there's a lot you get to experience today," Gray released his Demon Slayer magic, the tattoo on his arm stretching across the right side of his body, crawling up his neck as he stood side by side with Natsu. "It's only fair, since we'll be what stops you."   
  "I'm the only one going to stop sack of bones here, ya damn stripper!" Natsu snarled.   
  They butted heads once again, and everyone else present let out a sigh.   
  "Can't you share the glory for just once in your life with someone other than Lucy or Happy?!"   
  "Natsu! Gray! Look out!" Meredy cried.   
  The two young men looking up to find a rush of black magic headed toward where they stood, both using their incredible reflexes to avoid the attack in the nick of time.   
  "Come on flame-for-brains, Juvia beat this guy," Gray gave a cocky grin as he skidded back, and threw his fists together to cast. "I don't wanna get showed up by her! Ice-Make Slayer Lance!" A barrage of icy spears sprung from his hands, firing straight toward the demon. Keyes shifted into his half-smoky form to avoid them.   
  But a certain dragon slayer popped up right in front of him suddenly, both hands alight with flames. "If I have to," he grumbled in response to Gray, before focusing back on their enemy. "I hope you're good and ready, cuz I'm gonna burn your sorry ass-" Natsu threw his fiery hands together in a forceful clap, and a brilliant wall of fire erupted before him, engulfing Keyes in their flames. "-to ash!"   
  "That's more like it," Gray snorted, performing another series of hand gestures between his fists. A vortex of dozens of icy swords surrounded him. With a simple twist of his body and a slash of his arms, he sent them flying into the fire. "Ice-Make: Unlimited Chaotic Dance!"   
  Alone, both Natsu and Gray were incredible wizards. It was impossible to deny that they were at the top of their respective elements, if not amongst the greatest prodigies of the entire magic community. But Jellal had never truly witnessed the power released when the two of them worked together. He was a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, he knew that Erza's power was nearly unmatched, but the combination of the Fire Dragon Slayer and the Ice Devil Slayer before him had no comparison.    
  Certainly, Natsu and Gray at full power meant victory for Fairy Tail. Jellal's body slumped forward when the dust settled and Keyes was gone.   
  Until he noticed the Khakkhara once more. The light pulsed, the dull hum. Ba-dum... ba-dum... ba-dum... Swirling mist materialized once more into the Black Archbishop.   
  "What the hell?!" Gray barked, as Keyes's dark chuckle echoed across the clearing once more. This time, he summoned a giant, glowing maroon hand which swiped at both slayers and forced them apart. "He survived Jellal's ultimate spell... and took everything we threw at him just fine? He's stronger than Mard Geer now!"   
  "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu threw whips made of flame in both hands at the clawed menace, in an attempt to cancel it out. With Keyes's curse power being Necromancy, every spell he used could mean doom for whatever living thing came in contact with it.   
  "Juvia beat this guy by allowing his smoky bane particles into her body, then materializing herself from within him! She didn't just defeat him, she killed him!" He exclaimed, dodging another of Keyes's attacks. "So how does he keep coming back?! How is he even here?"   
  Their synergy started to falter however, and in their attempts to dodge his attacks, Natsu and Gray collided with one another. The demon seized this opportunity and released a dark cyclone of bane particles upon the two wizards, who yelled in agony.   
  "Dragneel! Fullbuster!" Erik exclaimed for them, as he once more inhaled the harmful anti-magic to protect the others with him.   
  "Damn," Jellal grunted, and attempted to get to his feet, only for him stumble. He winced, looking to the two who were fighting Keyes. They both coughed, exposed to about the same amount of bane particles that Jellal himself had been in an instant. As quickly as things had been looking up, the situation had become grim once again.   
  "Since you are being such wonderful hosts, I suppose I should explain how it is possible that I get the pleasure of destroying Fairy Tail," Keyes taunted them. It didn't take a genius to recognize that the staff he carried, the Khakkhara, had something to do with it. The pulse always preceded Keyes's reanimation. Jellal needed to know what about that staff brought him back.   
  The animated skeleton ran his bare bone fingers over the crystal at the top of the staff. "This crystal is the last remnant of Zeref's power... the last relic of Tartaros... the living being that pumped the blood deep within my Demon Lord's veins. Upon his death, all the demonic power spread and attached to the Nine Demon Gates' existences. With the burst of power, even my Necromancy became stronger."   
  "What is he saying?" Natsu snapped, glaring at the demon before him.   
  Beside him, Gray's eyes widened. "No way..."   
  "That crystal is Mard Geer's heart," Jellal realized at the same time, the morbid thought sending a chill through his entire body. "All of the Nine Demon Gates were connected to him. They all retrieved power through him. Though he has perished, the Book of END was never destroyed... allowing the heart to survive..."   
  "As long as Mard Geer's heart beats, I will continue to revive myself every time you kill me," his skull cracked into a terrifying smile once more. "Strike me down a thousand times, you will never be able to win."   
  A moment of stunned silence settled over the group. Perhaps it was the intensified exposure to the bane particles, but a certain despair weighed in the air.   
  "How do we defeat an enemy... who can't die?" Meredy gasped softly.   
  "We don't..." the Poison Dragon Slayer beside her replied, horrified. "We can't. How can I protect Kinana…?"   
  "To hell we can't!" Natsu exclaimed, slamming his fist into the ground. "There has to be some way - there must be! I refuse to give up, because that bastard is still holding our friends; he's still holding Lucy and Cana! And he wants to turn them into another Lumen Histoire! Do you remember how much Mavis Vermillion suffered because of what Hades had done to her? I could never let that happen again; and I refuse to lose Lucy!" His voice cracked at the end. It had never occurred to Jellal just how much Natsu had been hurting because Keyes was holding Lucy hostage, with the intent to turn her into a purified source of magic.   
  "We won't give up," Jellal confirmed, nodding his head. "We'll run ourselves to death if we have to, but we protect Fairy Tail at all costs."   
  "Fairies... foolish as ever. Your deaths shall subject you to eternal torture," Keyes rose his Khakkhara once more, the staff glowing angry red. Exhausted, there wasn't much that could be done in ways of protecting themselves. Gray and Natsu released a wave of extremely dense magic power in response as a means to cancel out his curse.   
  And then a sword flew through the air, impaling Keyes in the chest. Though it drew no blood, he roared furiously before instantly disseminating into smoke. The Khakkhara turned pink almost immediately and began pulsing in its heartbeat once again, but the mages had been spared for just a bit longer.   
  Jellal recognized that sword. He couldn't help the smile that returned to his face, despite their dire situation. Controlled by telepathy, the winged sword returned to the hand of a young woman who though she remained mostly on the ground, propped up on one arm, was always strong in the face of any challenge. Her scarlet ponytail blew in the breeze, ever an image of victory that she was.   
  "That's the guild that I believe in. The strength I rely on. The family that raised me," Erza was beaming, her hopeful expression a beacon of hope for the battered fairies. Jellal felt the weight of that bravery levered heavily on his shoulders. "You're all right. We've faced down Zeref and Acnologia. We didn't give up then, and we won't now. Fairy Tail will always prevail."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so proud of this fanfiction so far. Also, if you didn't notice, this two-shot has turned into a five chapter fic lol  
> This chapter and chapter 4 were going to be posted as one originally, but it was so long it was the same length as one and two combined. I'm finishing up the second part of it, so chapter 4 will probably be up in the next few weeks!  
> Thanks to everybody waiting for this!

 From the moment he opened his eyes while cradled as a prisoner by the Oracion Seis, Jellal’s memories of the Tower of Heaven began to return to him at a painfully slow pace. The only thing he remembered when he had first woken up was a single name; her name, _Erza Scarlet_. For an instant, one single instant, he had believed it his own; but the sound of the name on his lips carried more emotional weight than that. It was the name of the person that he cared about most in the world, and the moment he had seen her, he knew.  
  The moment he remembered what he had done to her, he wished he was dead.  
  It had been seven long years that restored his memories, piece by piece at a time. First came the painful ones - of killing one of his closest friends, of having brainwashed the rest of them, of tormenting the one he cared about most in the world for more than a decade. He was a monster of a man, and would always have that man he had once been inside him. Erza was his chance at salvation, but in the seven years she was imprisoned on Tenrou Island, Jellal wallowed in his sorrow. There was only so much he could do to make up for everything he had done. Crime Sorciere was a big part of helping him heal, but Erza was ever the most important catalyst in his life. His reappointment as a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, and his subsequent joining of Fairy Tail, was only possible because of her.  
  And he saw that in her once more as she got to her feet now, still brandishing the sword with which she had slain Keyes in a single blow. Yes, the demon would revive himself soon, but Erza’s quick thinking had given them a chance to catch their breath. It had also once more ignited the flames within the hearts of the six Fairy Tail wizards standing against the demon.  
  “Erza! You’re alright!” Natsu exclaimed, a grin on his face as wide as ever, though the flames in his eyes burned cold like what Jellal imagined the fire of Hell would be like.  
  “One could hardly call me alright, but yes, I suppose,” she snorted in amusement.  
  Levy hooked her arm with Erza’s, her eyes scanning over the battered mages in front of them. She quickly scribbled “ _PURIFY_ ” in the air and pushed the word toward the group, letting her misty-blue spell phase over them. Instantly, the burning sensation deep in Jellal’s bones disappeared, leaving behind a gentle warmth. He felt the little magic that he had left flowing more freely through his body like the blood pumping through his veins, and he took a deep, clear breath through his nose.  
  “That feels instantly better, thank you Levy,” he said graciously to her, while the others who had been exposed also muttered their gratitude.  
  She nodded, saluting him with two fingers. “I only understand healing so much, and a spell like that takes a lot of my magic power. I may have driven away the bane particles, but I can only do that so many times before I’m completely exhausted.”  
  “Keyes will revive himself soon,” Meredy cut in, grimly reminding them all of the situation they were currently stuck in. “And he does still have Lucy and Cana being held somewhere... who knows what he’s doing to them!”  
  “So we need a plan,” Erik considered. “Some way to overpower him, when we’re all running nearly on empty? At least Dragneel and Fullbuster can replenish themselves.”  
  “I can help you too, Erik,” Levy chirped, writing “ _POISON_ ” in Solid Script. The Poison Dragon Slayer stood somewhat shocked for a moment before he began to consume the magical word before him.  
  “My magic is fully returned, but my body itself is far past its limits,” Erza informed the group. “Besides, my fighting style is too physical. Keyes fights like Juvia, and physical weapons do little against them. Meredy, use Magic Well on me and give yourself and Jellal more power to fight.”  
  She turned to him now, and her expression softened under his gaze, just as it always did. “I apologize that you have to keep fighting Jellal... I am sorry that you must continue to bear the brunt of this responsibility.”  
  There was something about the way she spoke to him, so hopeful and confident in his abilities, that he couldn’t help but be filled with renewed strength. Even though he had fought the most, had suffered the most, Erza believed in him. A small smile appeared on his face.  
  “I promise that I will do this,” he met her eyes. “I am not done yet.”  
  “Guys!” Gray exclaimed from where he and Natsu stood, pointing to the silhouette of the demon that surrounded the Khakkhara once more. “We’re almost out of time!”  
  “Meredy!”  
  “Right!” She cheered, throwing her hand up into the air and casting Magic Well once more. The pink bracelets appeared on her wrist, Jellal’s wrist, and Erza’s.  
  Instantly, the warmth of new magic shot through his veins, filling Jellal with energy and focus that he hadn’t realized he had been lacking. He could feel Erza’s vast power pulsing through his body, and magic sparked at his fingertips once again.  
  Meredy gasped and stumbled back a bit. “The link... it’s incredibly strong.”  
  “I’m not surprised,” Erik chuckled amusedly.  
  “Erza, do you have a plan?” Jellal asked her, trying to ignore his teammate’s teasing. He wasn’t very successful, however, and a blush spread on his face.  
  She nodded. “I do. You five hold Keyes back. Levy and I will take care of the rest.”  
  “Me?” The petite wizard gasped, before Erza yanked her away from the group and instructed her toward the edge of the courtyard.  
  “Oh sure, we’ll just hold one of the Nine Demon Gates from the Book of Zeref back, no problem,” Erik agreed mockingly, but walked up to stand beside his fellow slayers against their enemy. “Sometimes i wonder what my life would be like if I hadn’t followed the two of them here to this damn guild.”  
  “Don’t lie, Erik, you love this guild,” Gray said to him with a smirk.  
  “I saw you while we were fighting Acnologia, you care about your friends just as much as the rest of us do,” Natsu added. “You’ll fight just as hard as we will.”  
  “Don’t worry, I’ll tell Kinana all about it when we’re done,” Meredy made the same devilish face as the two boys did.  
  The Poison Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”  
  “Everyone! This is it, don’t let your guard down for a minute!” Jellal yelled to his guildmates.  
   _We cannot let even one attack past us. If Keyes notices Erza and Levy, he’ll surely go after them; he’s not worried about what we can do to him, since he can keep reviving himself._  
  Jellal focused once more on the swirling, converging smoke in front of him once again, feeling a wave of Erza’s magic wash over him. He was ready.  
   _I will not let a single strike anywhere near Erza._  
  “Jellal! Watch out!” Natsu yelled.  
  He turned just in time to see that it was a magical white chain coming up to ensnare him, but had little time for reaction. It seized him, sending a rush of painful electricity through his body before launching him into the air.  
  “Jellal Fernandes! I am not finished with you!” A maniacal laugh introduced itself to the group, alerting them to the fact that they would still have to fight someone alongside the former Demon Gate of Tartaros.  
   _So Hades is still in the picture, is that it? We’ve defeated him twice already, and we still haven’t saved Cana and Lucy._  
  He noticed however that while Keyes still hadn’t returned to his full conscious form, Hades was acting on his own. He thought Keyes had to control the corpse of the former Grimoire Heart master, but that didn’t appear to be the case. The answer struck him nearly instantaneously.  
  The Khakkhara.  
  If the crystal was in truth the heart of Mard Geer, then its power would extend far past simply reviving Keyes and being the catalyst for his curses. The heart itself must be controlling Hades, so that Keyes didn’t have to. And though he knew it wouldn’t be easy, with Gray’s devil slaying magic they could destroy the demonic heart.  
  He was slammed into the ground by Hades by the time he’d finished his thoughts.  
  “Jellal!” Meredy cried, rushing toward where he had fallen. Instead of immediately helping him this time however, she focused her attention on her former master. “Maguility Wave!” A torrent of pink-hued magic sprang from her fingertips to engulf him.  
  “I’ll help Meredy so that Jellal can fight with you guys,” Erik told his fellow slayers, as reddish-purple magic bubbled within his hands. “Will you be good starting by yourselves?”  
  “Oh I’m really fired up now,” Natsu grinned, slamming his fists together. “Try to keep up, ice princess!”  
  “Heh, go ahead man,” Gray smirked. “We got this. You’re on, pyro!”  
  “Such arrogance amongst this group,” Keyes finally spoke while Erik ran to help Meredy. “Even when you have no way to kill your enemy. How pitiful.”  
  “It’s because we aren’t gonna lose to the likes of you!” Gray sneered, before casting. “Ice Devil’s Zeroth Death Axe!”  
  “Fire Dragon’s Claw!” His teammate answered with, and they attacked him in unison once again.  
  Keyes’s empty eyes narrowed a bit. “Come now, Fairy Tail.”  
 And then he was gone, melting through the two of them as he turned his body to bane particles. Both young men gasped in agony again.  
  “If this is the best you can do, then you will never defeat me.”

~  
  
  “So are you going to fill me in on the plan Erza?” Levy whispered from their hiding spot behind the guild. Up front in the courtyard the fight between the five guild members and the demon and his puppet was in full swing.  
  “I needed to wait until their fight started. Now, we can begin,” the redhead nodded.  
  “What does it have to do with me?”  
  She turned to face Levy. “Freed has taught you some enchantments, yes?”  
  “Um yeah, just the basics. I’m not nearly as good as he is, but I can make a trap and I can inscribe mildly advanced rules to it.”  
  “Perfect. I’m going to have you create an enchantment to trap Keyes. Now, for him not to notice what you’re doing, it’s going to need to be a fairly large one; I’d say the whole courtyard, at least.”  
  “Yikes, I don’t know if mine will turn out that well, but I’ll certainly try,” Levy mumbled unconfidently.  
  Erza places a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do fine! You need to give yourself more credit, Levy. You are a strong wizard, and no one can beat that brain of yours. Stand up tall, and fight alongside the rest of us!”  
  She stared for a moment before wiping her eyes and grinning. “You’re right Erza! How could I be so dumb! It’s more than trying, of course I’ll do it!”  
  Erza beamed. “There you are, Levy.”  
  “Geehee, that’s the spirit Shrimp!”  
  Both women jumped at the new voice, but they recognized it almost immediately. Levy’s eyes brightened. “Gajeel! You’re awake!”  
  “Yep,” before them stood the Iron Dragon Slayer, still looking worn for wear but in good enough spirits. That was probably just because he knew Levy was safe. “But damn I need some iron. I couldn’t be going nearly as crazy as Salamander and Snowman are now, my magic’s only recovered so much.”  
  “Later,” Erza grew serious once more. “I have faith in Jellal and the others, but there’s only so much more they can take. I’ll be with you, and even though I’m sharing my magic, I’ll draw his fire if it comes to it. My assumption is that he’ll attack me if he does notice us.”  
  “So I have to write the enchantment while you just get curses thrown at you?!” Levy looked a bit unnerved at the thought.  
  “Yes, I think that’s realistic enough to hope for,” she looked over to the young man who stood above them. “Gajeel, do you think you have enough magic to protect Levy if Keyes tries to attack her?”  
  “Enough magic or not, I’d never let something hurt her unless I was dead.”  
  While the wizard in question turned nearly the same shade as Erza’s hair, Erza grinned in response. “Excellent. Let us begin, then,” An explosion shook the courtyard suddenly, tremors knocking the three of them into one another and almost off their feet. “Gods I hope that was Natsu! Levy, you can start writing the rules of the enchantment over here, I’m going to go see how they’re doing,” She pushed off from the ground and ran to observe the fight.  
  Levy began her work, focusing on everything Freed had taught her about writing the enchantments. She took a deep breath as she scribbled words into the air, setting the rules for the barrier and praying she could finish it in time.  
  “This isn’t going to be a very strong enchantment,” she mumbled to herself. “But I’m making the rules as specific as I can so that Keyes won’t be able to break out.”  
  “You’ve got this, Shrimp,” he assured her, crossing his arms with the utmost confidence. Gajeel was silent for a moment before he sighed. “We’re really lucky we left the twins with the sitter today.”  
  Levy sighed too, but a small smile with melancholy appeared on her face as she glanced at him. “Yeah, we really are.”

~  
  
  “Poison Dragon’s Scales!”  
  Jellal lifted his head from the ground, blinking stars out of his eyes. The fact that Levy has been able to expel the bane particles from his body and therefore removed the immediate threat on his life had seemed to make him forget just how long he’d been fighting, how much magic he had used and how many hits his body had taken. Even with Erza’s magic surging through him because of Meredy’s Sensory Link, he was not in his peak form. And that could be dangerous, using such strong magic when his body couldn’t handle it.  
  “Erik! Stay still for a moment!” He heard his partner yelling. He looked in the direction of her voice to see the two of them facing off against Hades. Erik complied, and he watched Meredy hold her hands in front of her a few inches away. A small vortex of wind stirred around her, whipping her bright pink hair in all directions. As the power surging around her grew, so did a red orb of magic  between her hands. It shined, and a red aura enveloped the Poison Dragon Slayer.  
  “By my hand, I gift the bestowed with heightened awareness, speed, and power of magic. I cast Enchant of the Senses!”  
  “I always love when you break this spell out,” his usual arrogant smirk appeared on Erik’s face once again, who faced Hades. “Let’s dance, you old dead man!”  
  Jellal watched them as he got back to his feet, Hades answering the taunt by summoning his shadowy lightning and firing it toward Erik. With the grin still on his face, he moved with incredible speed and dodged the attacks. Naturally, the dragon slayer was already very quick, but with Meredy’s enchantment he was moving as fast as Jellal did when he used Meteor.  
  “Can’t keep up with me? Doesn’t help that I can still hear everything your rotting bones are going to do!” He balled up his fists once more, as magic streamed from them. “Poison Dragon’s Twin Fangs!”  
  Meredy noticed Jellal watching them, and pointed behind him. “Erik and I have Hades handled, Jellal! Go help Natsu and Gray!”  
  He gave her a salute before turning his attention to the two, who would have started to fight Keyes by now, he was sure. And certainly he was right, as he watched Natsu, his entire body aflame, hurl himself directly at the demon and headbutted him.  
  “Fire Dragon’s Sword Horn!”  
  Gray crossed his arms in front his chest, the mark on his arm expanding again as he released demon slaying magic. Dual swords of ice appeared in his hands with a reversed grip. He didn’t take a moment to hesitate, rushing at Keyes while he was still distracted with Natsu’s flames and slashing at the demon in a cross.  
  “Zeroth Cold Excalibur: Ice Bringer!”  
  Gray coughed, however, as more bane particles were thrown in his face when his swords cut Keyes. Thinking quickly, he released another wave of cold air powered with devil slayer magic, which could negate the particles when he acted fast enough.  
  Seeing this, Jellal immediately cast Meteor, leaping into the fight quickly. The biggest problem was Keyes’s bane particles, and they had to defeat him before the wizards who were still unconscious inhaled them. He threw his entire magic-encased body into the Demon Gate, before quickly shooting away to avoid a close-ranged retaliation.  
  “Orion!” Several golden arrows appeared as he went by above Keyes, all of them striking true but were blocked by short bursts of power from the Khakkhara in his hands. Even with three different wizards attacking him with everything they had, the Black Archbishop of Tartaros had clearly gotten stronger since the last time Fairy Tail had fought him.  
  “You continue impress me with your resilience, Fairy Tail,” Keyes spoke finally, once the three stopped their assault to catch their breath. “Each attack is as strong as the one before it. It takes an extremely strong will to be able to accomplish such a thing. As usual, you are such fascinating mortals.”  
  “We can take whatever you try to hit us with too,” Gray sneered.  
  “We’ll win this, just like we beat Tartaros before!” Natsu wore an intense grin. “And it’s just one of you this time! It doesn’t even matter that you can revive yourself, you’re all alone here!”  
  “You seem to have forgotten however, fairies, just how much more pain I can inflict on you,” Keyes held up a hand in the direction of the guild hall. “All of the people you care about lay in there helpless in your guild hall, if they aren’t out here in the courtyard for me to destroy. It doesn’t matter even if you refuse to never give up. I can take everything away from you.”  
  As he cast a curse upon Fairy Tail, Hades ignored Erik and Meredy to do the same. The five wizards facing them were frozen in absolute horror. Erza and Gajeel, who were making sure Levy was left to finish her work, heard Keyes’s threat against the defenseless wizards within the walls who had their magic stolen by the demon.  
  “Jellal!” Erza cried. “I don’t care how much magic you take from me, you must protect the guild hall!”  
  He did not protest her words, taking as much magic from the Sensory Link that it would take as he threw his hands out to form the golden shell, one powerful enough that it would not cave against Keyes’s curses.  
  Jellal noticed too late that the trajectory of their attacks had changed.  
  Erik had left Juvia beside Laxus and the Thunder Legion, purposefully laid between Freed and Bickslow to make her less noticeable to the demon who had previously stated his intentions to removed Gray and Juvia’s unborn child. It hadn’t been a bad plan, only now Jellal’s Andromeda spell did not reach her. With all his strength he tried to moved the shield while holding it together when he noticed that Juvia - and by extent the Thunder Legion around her - was the intended victim, but he quickly realized that Keyes’s curse and Hades’s magic were much faster and he simply would not make it in time. Jellal dropped the Andromeda spell altogether and made a desperate attempt using Meteor to make it in time and deflect the attack himself.  
  “No! _Juvia_!” Gray’s cry of anguish was so raw and broken, that it physically made Jellal will himself to move faster. He heard Gray yell again, a devastated bellow that seemed more animal than human. He heard the devil slayer cast another spell as he attempted to stop Keyes too.  
   _Please, please let me make it. Jellal pleaded desperately with the universe as he approached. I don’t even care if it kills me. I have to save them!_  
  He was forced to shift directions however, when a wall of ice appeared before him. Jellal shot up into the air above the courtyard and stared down in confusion as to what had just occurred.  
  The curse struck the wall of ice, but instead of barreling through it, Gray’s spell held firm. Within the purple-hued ice, Juvia, Laxus, and the Thunder Legion had been encased, and were unharmed.  
  “ _Your fight is with us!_ ” Gray yelled at him, furious. “So leave Juvia out of this!”  
  “Damn, Fullbuster where the hell did that come from-“  
  “Gray! You did it!”  
  “Snowman froze them? How’d that work?”  
  “Juvia! Oh my god she’s okay!”  
  Natsu looked to the wizard beside him, a dumbfounded expression on his face. “That’s... that ice smells different from anything you’ve ever used! What the hell is it?”  
  Even Gray now seemed unsure of what happened as his burning hatred and fury fizzled away, but he was clearly relieved that he had saved Juvia and the others. He smiled with relief, but dropped to his knees. With tears streaming down his face, it was clear that such an act not only had taken a toll on his magic, but also being forced to watch as Juvia had very nearly been killed once again was traumatic to Gray.  
  Keyes was beside himself, however, anger written on his normally indifferent features. “How did you-!”  
  But he certainly would never get his answer, as the crackling of Jellal above his head stole his attention. A familiar pattern of magic circles decorated the sky as the Heavenly Body wizard threw his hands together, with fingers indicating two on the top and five on the bottom, shouting the incantation to what was perhaps his most well-known spell. “Grand Chariot!”  
  There was no chance for the demon to block the attack, and his body gave way instantly. Aside from Hades hardly missing a step even while Keyes was reviving himself, they had another chance to breathe.  
  Jellal landed on the sloped ice, using it to slow his descent. They had but a moment, and he needed to know how everyone else was fairing. Erik had once again engaged Hades, most likely to keep the rest of them safe.  
  “Erza!” She looked just as exhausted as he was, from how quickly Jellal and Meredy were draining her magic. But still, she smiled at him.  
  “We’re doing okay over here! Gajeel has woken up, so he can help me protect Levy! We’re almost done, just a little longer, I promise! We just need a little longer!”  
  “Then a little longer you’ll have,” he nodded, before turning to Gray, who was on his hands and knees. “How are you doing?”  
  “And more importantly, how did you do that?!” Natsu guffawed.  
  “I have... no idea...” he gasped, eyes wide in shock. “I just... I felt like there was something I could do, something I had to do to protect her and Laxus, Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen.”  
  “And we’re certainly grateful,” Laxus’s gruff voice snorted.  
  Even more confusing, they looked up to find the entire group, including Juvia, had opened their eyes. Though they were frozen in place, their faces and mouths seemed to move with no issue.  
  “Wha...? Now I’m really lost!” Natsu exclaimed.  
  “How... how are you all awake?” Jellal asked in awe.  
  “I cannot explain it, but suddenly my eyes opened,” Freed answered in his calm voice. “The last thing I remember was feeling like my magic was being drained away. I don’t feel completely healed, but it’s the ice. It’s clearly doing something in speeding up our recovery.”  
  “Aw hell yeah! Let me back in on the action!” Bickslow cackled, while Evergreen scoffed at him.  
  “It’s wonderful, Gray my darling,” he turned to look at her when Juvia spoke to him. Her eyes shined with admiration, as they always did when she looked at him. “I don’t know how you’ve done it, but I’m not surprised by your incredible abilities. And our baby... gods, our baby is safe. I love you so much.”  
  Gray gritted his teeth as more tears appeared in his eyes and rolled down his face due to Juvia’s words. He wiped at them furiously, before clenching his fist again. “We gotta end this _now_ , Jellal. What do I have to do?”  
  “I have an idea,” the older mage answered. “The next time Keyes is overwhelmed like he was by my Grand Chariot, destroy the crystal of his Khakkhara, Gray. You have demon slaying magic, therefore I think you may be the only one able to destroy it. If he is telling the truth and that is in fact Mard Geer’s heart, then that is the source of both his power and Hades’s. This will all be over once that has been destroyed. Erza and Levy are going to give you that opening, and Natsu and I will make sure Keyes can’t stop you.”  
  “And if he isn’t telling the truth?” Natsu grumbled. “How are we gonna get Lucy and Cana back?”  
  “Jiu Leixing!” Jellal crossed his arms and summoned the nine lightning swords once again. “We’re just going to have to hope that Keyes was too arrogant to realize that he shouldn’t have give something like that away. At least my Heavenly Body magic seems able to hurt him, as his necromancy Hades was much more resistant to me. Erik!” He called to his teammate, who had taken a step back and wiped his mouth after a malicious assault. “How are you holding up?”  
  “Just peachy. Poison Dragon’s Wing Attack!” his hands held whips of poisonous magic, which he directed at his opponent. “Tch, it’s too bad he’s just a undead sack of meat, my poison doesn’t hurt him. But, I suppose then I wouldn’t be having any fun making the bastard pay for what he did to Kinana,” He jumped to avoid an attack, Meredy’s enchantment still in effect on him.  
  “Jellal, Gray, Natsu! You’re resting time is almost up!” She called to them, alerting the group that Keyes was returning for a fifth time before waving her hands to summon a pink aura around herself once again. “Erik! Let’s attack him together!”  
  A Poison Dragon’s Roar accompanied her Magility Wave, something that Jellal watched before focusing his attention back on Keyes as he materialized again.  
  “You three are giving me more trouble than you are worth,” the skeleton scowled at them.  
  “Oh sorry, didn’t realize we were interrupting your plans for the day,” Natsu snapped sarcastically at him. “Now let Lucy and Cana go!”  
  “And release the key to obtaining the power of the Lumen Histoire?” He chuckled. “Amusing sentiment, dragon slayer. I understand that your preferred female companion is one of them, but that doesn’t matter to me.”  
  Natsu blushed a little, which caused Gray to suppress an amused snort. But the dragon slayer was trembling, and clenched his fists as they ignited into flames.  
  “I made a promise to always protect her, and you made me break it,” he growled, the air around him suddenly heating up to the extreme. “And then you threaten Juvia, and the life of Gray’s kid just to agitate him! They’re our friends! Our family! We aren’t ever gonna stop fighting you to protect them! I’m going to keep my promise to Lucy, no matter what you do to me! Fire Dragon’s Roasting Breath!”


	4. Chapter 4

 Gajeel stood over Levy with his arms crossed as she worked. He appeared unprepared but in reality his magic simmered just beneath the surface, ready for a fight should his intervention be necessary. He wasn’t in peak form, but that just didn’t matter. It didn’t matter when he fought for Fairy Tail, and it especially didn’t matter if it was Levy’s safety in concern.   
   _Gajeel, I know you’re with Levy._   
  He stood up a little taller at the voice that whispered in his ear, and whipped around behind him to look down at Levy who was deep in concentration. He knew it probably hadn’t been her because she was so focused, but who else would bother to whisper to him in this situation?   
  “Hey Shrimp, did you say something? You need me?”   
  She didn’t even look up. “No.”   
   _Gajeel, I know you’re with Levy._   
  “The hell...?” He growled. “Bastard, if you’re fuckin’ with me we’re gonna have a problem!”   
  “Gajeel, keep your voice down! I know you can fight, it doesn’t mean you should!” Levy exclaimed. “You’re still recovering from the initial attack. If Keyes hears you he’ll know I’m doing something, and then we’ll both be in trouble.”   
  “Levy I swear I hear someone-“   
   _Gajeel, I know you’re with Levy._   
  Not wanting to bother Levy anymore, he stayed silent. Why were they repeating themselves? Now that he stayed silent afterwards, he heard more words and strained to pick them up with his enhanced hearing.   
  _... Her enchantment, otherwise the guidelines will apply to everyone within the runes._   
  “What?!” He exclaimed in irritation.   
  “Gajeel!” Levy scolded him.   
  “Hold on, shush!” He replied, and she stopped her rune work to stare at him as he listened again.   
   _Gajeel, I know you’re with Levy. Make sure she sets an activation rule on her enchantment, otherwise the guidelines will apply to everyone within the runes._   
  Now that he heard the full message altogether, he recognized the voice; it was Freed. Across the courtyard, he was suspended in Gray’s ice with the rest of the Thunder Legion due to the strange spell that the devil slayer had unleashed when Keyes tried to attack Juvia. He had heard Natsu, Gray, and Jellal talking to them, so Gajeel knew they were awake in there. And Freed must have seen Levy and himself off on the edge by the fence, realizing that Levy was inscribing an enchantment based on Ezra’s plan.   
  “It’s Freed,” he finally told her. “Giving me instructions to give you.”   
  “Freed?” Levy’s eyes widened. “Where is he? He should come finish my enchantment! Then we’ll be set.”   
  “Can’t, that’s why he’s whispering to me. Probably so Keyes doesn’t notice he’s talking or hear what he’s saying.”   
  Gajeel saw Natsu look over toward the wizards encased in ice, despite being furthest away from it among those fighting Keyes. So he could hear Freed too.   
  “Well, what’s he saying?”   
  “Shhh,” he shushed her as he listened to the whisper again. “Tellin’ me to make sure you set a... an activation rule on your enchantment. He says otherwise your rules will apply to all of us within the runes. Does that mean somethin’ to you?”   
  Levy stared at Gajeel, her face going pale and her eyes widening. By the time he’d asked her what that meant, she looked positively guilty. “Oh my god Freed...” she mumbled to herself, before furiously scribbling more runes into the air.   
  “You forgot whatever it was, didn’t you?” He chuckled a little, before realizing what that meant. “So we all would’ve gotten stuck in this invisible box if Freed hadn’t reminded you?!”   
  “Relax, it only would have negated curses, and Keyes is the only one who uses them,” Levy waved a hand at him, as if to brush off his concern. Still, she cut her eyes to the ground and mumbled “but yes.” Of course, the man beside her was a dragon slayer, so he heard it anyway.   
  “Freed just saved our asses!”   
  “And if I didn’t know how to cast enchantments, we’d have all been screwed! How about that?” She snapped at him sarcastically. When Levy finished writing, the entire perimeter of the courtyard glowed purple.   
  “It’s ready,” she beamed brightly. “The next curse Keyes uses should activate it.”   
  Gajeel glanced toward his fellow slayers, their fellow guildmates who were battling with the Demon Gate. “Alright guys, it’s all up to you now.”   
  
  The heated air continued expanding away from its source, the furious Fire Dragon Slayer. Flames appeared instantaneously in the air around the group locked in battle, both Jellal and Gray taking several steps back from Natsu’s overwhelming power. Even the ground beneath Keyes began steaming.   
  “That idiot might actually melt my healing ice,” Gray scowled. “I’ll kill him.”   
  Even though he had a very clear opening to attack Keyes with the nine swords floating behind him, Jellal was too stunned to act. He certainly was never one to deny that Natsu was powerful - he remembered his fight with him in the Tower of Heaven all those years ago well - but he had never seen the dragon slayer like _this_. Natsu grew more powerful the more people he had that he trusted around them, but he also couldn’t help but feel like this was because of what Keyes had done to Lucy. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza made up the main force of combative wizards in their team, but even when Gray and Erza weren’t there, Natsu and Lucy were inseparable. He had no idea where this raw strength suddenly came from, but it was hard to imagine that his desire to save Lucy didn’t have something to do with it.   
  “Where do you find the strength for so much power, Natsu Dragneel?” Even Keyes was shocked by his display then, although he didn’t seem all that much concerned. Simply curious.   
  “All those things you say about humans being weak because we rely on others, that’s bullshit! My feelings for my friends, and for Lucy, are what make me stronger than you!” Natsu yelled at him, crossing his arms before swinging them open. The air surrounding Keyes turned white hot at another extreme increase in temperature, bursting into flames. Any human subjected to that wouldn’t have been able to breathe.   
  Despite the intense heat, Jellal was surprised to find he hadn’t been burned. Perhaps Natsu was just that talented, he was able to prevent his allies from getting harmed?   
  Cruel chuckling greeted them once the heat finally disappeared, and Natsu let out an angry guffaw at what he saw. Keyes stood before them, the Khakkhara in his hand having turned an odd shade of navy blue. Other than his smoldering robes, the demon appeared virtually uninjured.   
  “What... the hell?” Gray growled.   
  “Impossible...” Jellal’s eyes were wide in disbelief.   
  A wide smiled cracked across Keyes’s face, stretching the stitches across his mouth to give him an utterly frightening and menacing appearance.   
  “Did I forget to mention something to you fairies?” His voice held amusement at their misery. “Perhaps that every time I revive myself using Master Mard Geer’s power, I become exponentially stronger? Your defeat of Lord Zeref made this all possible, Natsu Dragneel.”   
  Jellal had never seen Natsu look so hopeless before. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and his whole body seemed to be trembling. “I...? No, it can’t be...”   
  “Natsu!” Gray exclaimed.   
  “Keep going!” Jellal yelled as he suddenly snapped out of his trance-like state and back to action, swiping his arms to direct his spell’s magic swords in a malicious assault against the Demon Gate. “We have to keep fighting! It isn’t over, Natsu! It isn’t even close to being over! We will protect our guild!”   
  “Natsu!” Erza called across the other side of the courtyard suddenly, from behind Keyes. “Don’t you dare give up on Lucy!”   
  She was dawning full Heaven’s Wheel armor, but Jellal knew she was sharing her magic. She wasn’t as powerful as she could be, and fear gripped his heart for a split second when Keyes turned toward the Fairy Queen, causing him to release his nine lightning swords.   
  “There you are, Titania,” he mused. “Now what have you been up to all this time?”   
  “I will never give up on Lucy! Stay away from Erza, you bastard!” And just like that, Natsu had his fight back, a furious blaze of fists as he launched himself at Keyes. His attack was a flurry of punches that had surprised the demon well enough that he hadn’t had a chance to block, and Natsu wasn’t going to give him one. “Flame Lotus Crimson Iron Fist!”   
  Erza grinned fiercely, and prepared herself to attack as well. “I was worried the mighty Fire Dragon Slayer Natsu Dragneel had given up on us for a moment, but there he is. My apologies for taking back some of my own magic, Jellal,” When her teammate had finished his assault with a flaming uppercut kick, Erza seized the opening. “Scattered Petals!”   
  The ring of swords levitating around her bore into Keyes, and he dissipated once again. As the black smoke curled around his Khakkhara once more, Jellal ran to her side.   
  “Does your joining the fight mean your plan for trapping Keyes is ready? We know exactly what we have to do, but we need the opening. And he mocked us, told us he only gets stronger when we defeat him.”   
  “Not exactly. I’m sure Levy must be finished by now, but I joined because it looked like you could use some renewed strength,” she smiled sheepishly at him. “I think my attack only worked because Natsu had just finished assaulting him.”   
  It was then that laughter echoed from the smoke, immediately rematerializing into Keyes. The Khakkhara hadn’t even begun flashing, which meant the demon hadn’t been defeated that time.   
  “You think I would fall for your plan once again, and allow you a moment to recover? I simply wanted to hear what Titania’s plan was,” he held up the staff again, glowing a dark blue which suddenly turned white. The shadows around them wrapped around the wizards of Fairy Tail without warning, even affecting Meredy and Erik, who had proudly been allowed to catch their breath after defeating Hades again.   
  “Erik! Guys, what is happening?!” Meredy cried out in concern, before she let out a shriek when one of the shadows covered her face.   
  “Meredy!” Was all Jellal could manage, his arms bound and certainly too weak to fight them. When Erza beside him gasped in agony, he found that she too, had been covered in shadows.   
  Natsu and Gray were both struggling against the curse, appearing more frustrated than frightened. They were also doing a much better job of fighting off the shadows. The dragon slayer looked to his teammate. “This is the same as when we fought Mard Geer isn’t it?”   
  Gray groaned back when when a shadow wrapped around his shoulder. The black marks began crawling up his skin again. “I can’t believe we have to deal with this shit again!”   
  “You will soon become nothing,” the demon’s voice echoed through his growing magic power. “The Memory of Death: Memento Mori!”   
  Jellal dug his feet into the ground as he felt Gray release another huge wave of devil slaying magic in response. He was using up all of his magic, and Levy was too far away to be able to create more ice for him to replenish. They needed Gray’s magic to destroy the heart of Tartaros, of that Jellal was blatantly sure. Something... he needed to come up with _something_  to prevent Gray from wearing himself out. But his devil slaying abilities were also the only thing that would be able to block a curse that had been designed to destroy Zeref himself.   
   _Lucy’s magic was enough to release all of Fairy Tail from the Allegria curse as well as destroy the body of Jackal, the Demon Gate of explosions. Devil slaying magic kills them indefinitely, but perhaps light magic has an advantage._   
  If that was true, then maybe he himself could lessen Gray’s burden.   
  Jellal bit into his tongue to keep from yelling at the physical agony of fighting against the shadows’ restraints in order to cast his own spell. He glanced down at his wrist and saw that Meredy’s Sensory Link had been broken. He only had his own powers to rely on now, which were completely depleted. He was at his limit, but still he refused to let it stop him. There was still a bit of Erza’s shared magic running in his body, but that was all he needed to have a chance. If that was all he had, he was going to make it count. He would do whatever he could to make the spell he had in mind work.    
  Jellal’s entire body began to glow as he focused all of the magic within his body. True to his predictions, the shadows loosened ever so slightly, but it was exactly what he needed to cast. With closed fists, he crossed his arms over his chest. Heat crept underneath his skin. His body was protesting, but he ignored every attempt at resistance, even if the pain was just shy of unbearable.   
  “True Heavenly Body -” Jellal threw his palms open and pushed all of the magic building up in his body out in every direction. “- Supernova!”   
  A blinding light burst forward from him, accompanied with a shockwave of pure magic. The intensity was akin to no other spell he had ever cast before, and he wondered if that magical strength came from his willpower and desire to protect Fairy Tail at any cost alone. It was an impressive display even after following Natsu’s Roasting Breath. While he couldn’t see, he heard Keyes yell in surprise at the blinding light and intense burst of power. His Supernova had hurt the demon, and that was all Jellal needed to know as he fell forward onto his knees.   
  The light disappeared in a wondrous sparkling display, and he looked up to find all of his guildmates staring at him.   
  “And you wondered where _my_  spell came from,” Gray said with sarcasm to Natsu. “What the hell was _that_?”   
  “Jellal, are you okay?” Erza’s voice trembled ever so slightly.   
  “I’ll be fine, Erza,” he insisted, though that was only a partially true statement since Jellal himself wasn’t quite sure. He wasn’t sure how far past his own limit he had gone, or what doing so meant for him. “What’s next?”   
  There was a groan, and Jellal looked up to find Keyes steadying himself once more. Gray and Natsu jumped in front of Jellal and Erza, at the ready for the battle that just never seemed to end.   
  “Don’t, Jellal!” Natsu yelled at him. “Give yourself time to rest!”   
  “That was stupid and reckless of you,” Gray agreed. “But so is the rest of this guild, and I know why you did it. You were trying to keep me from using up all my magic. Don’t worry. We’ll take it from here.”   
  “What is this?” The demon suddenly roared. “What have you fairies done to me?!”   
  “He can’t... cast...?” Jellal frowned deeply.   
  Erza brightened up, her grip on his shoulder tightening. “Levy finished! She did it...”   
  Around the courtyard, the walls of Levy’s enchantment suddenly illuminated purple, stretching high up into the sky. Runes scattered above their heads, delighting the fairies within its bounds.   
  “No way...” Gray mumbled, staring at the magical boundary surrounding the entire courtyard. “I didn’t even know she knew how to make one.”   
  “She finished it just in time!” Natsu exclaimed with a goofy grin on his face.   
  “Well done, Levy,” Freed’s calm voice praised from where he remained in Gray’s protective glacier spell.   
  “‘He who uses curse spells within these boundaries will be robbed of his abilities’,” the demon read out loud from the text floating around them. “What is this?!”   
  True to the rules of the enchantment that Levy had written, when Keyes attempted to summon a curse from his Khakkhara, nothing happened. The demon roared furiously, and tried to release more energy from Mard Geer’s heart with no success.   
  Jellal got back to his feet, shrugging off Erza’s protest. He extended the palm of one hand toward Keyes, two fingers and his thumb pointed toward the sky. He pulled his right arm as though he were drawing a bow or throwing a spear as he gathered more power. A small cyclone of wind surrounded him with the buildup of magic, his bright blue hair whipping around in the wind tunnel.   
  “Ancient guardians of the sky, lend me your strength!” Jellal casted by extending his arm forward to meet the other. “Olympia!”   
  A magic circle flashed in front of him before appearing beneath Keyes. The sky had turned an angry dark gray, before twelve heavenly lightning bolts descended from the storm clouds and struck the demon. The flash of the powerful release of magic temporarily blinded those wizards in the courtyard, but that didn’t stop Natsu from adding his own Fire Dragon’s Roar swirling violently amongst the lightning.   
  Jellal covered his eyes partially with his arm to protect them from the intense burst of power and heat. “Gray! Destroy the heart, now!”   
 He barely even needed to give the command however, as the devil slayer had already rushed forward. Two blades of ice appeared from the back his arms, and he twisted his body backwards as he came upon the staff.    
  “Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance!”   
  There was silence as the crystallized demon heart shattered, but when the broken pieces struck the ground, victorious cheers erupted from the thirteen conscious fairies. The sound thundered in Jellal’s ears as though every member of Fairy Tail, past and present, roared with them. He turned to Keyes, wiping blood from his chin and unable to hide his joyous smile.   
  “You’ve witnessed the power of Fairy Tail for yourself, Black Archbishop Keyes. What will you do now?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final chapter of Heavens Bringer!  
> I'm so proud, and relieved it's done, but thanks to everyone who read this! Not only is it my first big multi chapter fic, but it’s also been a blatant showcase for the type of writing I’ve really been practicing - action and fights. This is the shippy chapter though, fair warning.  
> Wanna dedicate the nalu to @a-fairy-tail44, the gale to @mountain-c, the jerza of course to @sweetmemories2606, little taste of albis to @alissadorintan, the gruvia to both of them, and the kinabra to myself~

   Demons were powerful beings, that was undeniable. But this was at the loss of a sense of caring, honor, or will. The instant that Keyes recognized those mortals he had so amusedly looked down upon had backed him into a corner, he began to crumble.  
   “You foolish, weak humans!” He growled, though he stepped back as Jellal narrowed his gaze at him. “When will you learn to quit when faced with overwhelming, superior strength?”  
   “There is no such thing to Fairy Tail!” Erza yelled, having re-equipped into her Adaraxia Blade Wing armor. The impressive swords that made up her wings fanned out around her as she stepped up next to Jellal. “When we stand together, we overcome anyone who calls themselves our enemy! Haven’t you learned that by now?”  
   “We beat your ass once back in the war between us and Tartaros, so really this shouldn’t have come as a surprise,” It was Gray who was the first to step forward. Though his chest rose and fell at an elevated pace expressing his exhaustion, he still looked willing to fight some more. “Even if you’ve gotten stronger, you’re still alone. Natsu and the other dragon slayers proved the will of your heart combined with those around you can overcome any amount of power when they beat Acnologia.”  
   Keyes followed Jellal’s gaze, where the resurrected body of Hades was finally fading away into nothing. With Levy’s enchantment negating his demonic powers, his seemingly-permanent Necromancy curse had also finally been canceled out.   
  “We’re gonna end this now! For real this time!” Natsu slammed his fist into the ground, a burst of flame erupting once again from the impact. “I’m sending you straight back to the Book of Zeref!”   
  From around him, a blazing dance of flames rushed at the demon, congregating into a single pillar that consumed Keyes in a brilliant display of magical power. Wordlessly, Gray created a bow of ice just as he had when they fought Mard Geer, and the excellent marksman that he was, saw his demon-slaying arrow fly true. Erza spread her arms, and her wing blades all at once converged on him.   
  “We still need more magic? Damn!” Gray grunted in dissatisfaction.   
  “That’s fine, leave it to me,” he turned back just in time to see Jellal take off into the sky once again using Meteor, darting across the sky in a familiar pattern as he drew magic circles at his breakneck speed.   
  “May you be judged by the seven stars of the heavens!” Jellal’s voice echoed through the courtyard with iron-clad conviction while casting the spell he was most recognized for. “Grand Chariot!”   
  The intensity, the measure of Fairy Tail’s combined hearts beating as one, finally was too much for Keyes to take and Jellal’s Heavenly Body magic, as the one to start the fight, was also the one to end it. The Demon Gate let out a roar of agony, but instead of dissipating into smoke this time, melted into the ground as shadows before they too, scattered and disappeared under the light.    
   Each wizard could feel it in their chest as the bane particles ceased to exist with the demon who had created them. Despite this, a silence hung over the courtyard as the walls of Levy’s enchantment came down, as if they still couldn’t believe everything that had just occurred.   
  “Oh my gosh! You guys! Natsu! Gray! Erza!” A young voice suddenly called from the sky, breaking the silence. “Gajeel! Are you all okay? Jellal! Erik!”   
  Jellal rose his head at his name and spotted three silhouettes with wings descending from the sky. Wendy was the first to land, having been the one who yelled for them. Carla appeared beside her as the other two wizards landed. To everyone’s surprise, it was Lyon and Chelia of Lamia Scale who joined her, carried by Pantherlily and Happy respectively.   
  “ _Natsuuuuuuuu!_ ” Happy wailed, rocketing himself like a missile into Natsu’s chest, sobbing.   
  “Hey little buddy. You’re okay!” He exclaimed. “I was starting to get worried about where you were!”   
  “What do you mean ‘starting’? Natsu, you’re so mean!”   
  “Lyon!” Meredy exclaimed, a comically exaggerated blush had appeared on her face when she realized he was standing in front of her. “Wh-what are you and Chelia doing here?” She shot Erik a glare and elbowed him hard when the dragon slayer began chuckling beside her.   
  “Carla, Happy, Lily and I got away when Hades first started attacking the guild,” Wendy explained to the confused, battered wizards as she and Chelia dispersed to heal the injured members of Fairy Tail. “We flew to Lamia Scale because I knew Chelia could help me heal everyone, and I thought Lyon might be able to help fight him off.”   
  “I’m quite relieved to see you no longer need my assistance,” Lamia Scale’s ace wizard replied while still looking at Meredy, before his attention was diverted to his rival ice mage and brother. “You too, Gray. I can’t help but get worried about you, my little brother. Especially when Juvia is unable to help you.”   
  “Shut up,” Gray grunted, but the smile on his face gave away his true feelings. He turned back to the glacier holding her, Laxus, and the Thunder Legion, pushing both of his palms against the ice as he worked to take it down.   
  “Gray, what is this?” Lyon asked, studying the ice as he walked up beside him. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” it was then he noticed the wizards suspended within it, noticeably the water mage who was carrying Gray’s child and whom he previously also had feelings for, and his expression hardened. “Why is Juvia in there? Did Hades do this?”   
  “No, I did,” Gray huffed. “It’s some sort of healing ice. It protected them from bane particles and caused them to regain consciousness. I still have no idea how I did it. Keyes tried to attack Juvia... and I just remember feeling furious, that I couldn’t let him touch her.”   
  “Keyes?” He echoed in confusion.   
  “That’s right,” Jellal grunted, from where Wendy was working on healing his injuries. Levy was also casting another _‘PURIFY’_  solid script over the group for good measure. “It was Keyes who attacked Fairy Tail. The Hades we fought was just a reanimated version of the true Grimoire Heart master. Hades is still dead.”   
  “I thought all of Tartaros was gone! Especially Keyes. Juvia killed him,” Wendy was shocked to hear the news as well.   
  “Yes, but he said it was because of Zeref’s death that he was able to use Necromancy to revive himself,” Erza answered. “Hopefully now he stays that way.”   
  With a sound somewhere between crumbling rock and shattering glass, the icy cocoon protecting the wizards within it opened. The onlooking group watched in awe as Laxus and his Thunder Legion appeared, unscathed, as Laxus reached up to help the three of them down off the ice.   
  And all the gathered fairies watched as Juvia slumped forward into Gray’s chest, who had already been rushing to meet her the moment he opened the glacier he’d put her in. She looked up to him, smiling as Gray shifted his arms to slip one under her knees and lift her off the ground.   
  “Wendy, will you check her out for me?” He called down to the dragon slayer with some desperation. “Can you make sure Juvia and the baby are okay?”   
  “Of course!” She waved back at him. In response, Gray slid back down the ice with her before letting her down back on her feet at the bottom.   
  Juvia reaches up and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, whispering something in Gray’s ear that caused both him and Wendy - who had been standing nearby, along with her enhanced dragon slaying hearing and perpetual bad luck in always overhearing the wrong things - to blush across the entire width of their faces. She smiled innocently at him as Wendy nervously got to work.   
  Jellal let out a bit of a chuckle, watching as the rest of his guildmates gained their wits again, reuniting with relief for one another. Gajeel and Levy had joined back up with Lily, and all three were gathered around Jet and Droy as they came to. The Strauss siblings had joined Laxus and the Thunder Legion not long after they all woke up, with both Mira and Lisanna beginning to examine the group’s injuries.   
  He saw as Erza made her way toward the doors of the guild hall where Alzack and Bisca had appeared, the former cradling their daughter in his arms. Asuka was still unconscious from having what little magic was in her drained from her body, but because neither parent looked extremely worried he figured she must be okay, perhaps even just sleeping after waking from the whole ordeal. It was a moment of relief for all who had experienced the pure terror Keyes had subjected them to, as life had been breathed back into Fairy Tail.   
  “Damn it’s loud again,” Jellal turned when he heard Erik speaking, and he saw the dragon slayer and Meredy nearing him.   
  “Oh stop pretending like you aren’t happy everyone is all right,” the petite wizard scolded him.   
  Erik yawned, indicating he was purposefully ignoring her statement. “Even though it’s loud again, I can still hear what you‘re thinking, pinky. Why don’t you go talk to Lyon instead of bothering me with both your lovesick voice and thoughts? It’s too bad he didn’t get to play hero for you, huh? Although, I must say you’ve got quite the imagination.”   
  She blushed again. “H-hey, that’s...! You’re horrible! Agh, get out of my head you ass!”   
  He rolled his eyes and looked to Jellal, a look of bored annoyance on his face. “Look, if we’re done here Jellal, I’m just gonna-“   
  “ _Erik!_ ” His composure, however, was caught off by the sharp cry of his name that also echoed from the guild hall entrance. And there stood Kinana, the very sight of her which immediately stripped his indifferent facade away.   
  “Kinana...” he gasped, and Jellal couldn’t help but chuckle at him too, as his mind seemed to instantly stop, relief flooding his face so quickly that the Poison Dragon Slayer looked as though he were about to cry. The next instant she had crossed the courtyard and flung herself into his arms, nearly knocking Erik over in the process. He held her tightly though, wrapping a hand around to cradle the back of her head like he couldn’t believe she was all right.   
  “You’re okay... you’re safe...” he was mumbling. “Kinana...”   
  Meredy rolled her eyes and continued over to Jellal’s side. “Can you believe him? Such a softie when it comes to her.”   
  Jellal smirked and turned his gaze to her. He was about to ask her if she was all right when a sudden ignition of flames erupted from where Natsu stood. Surrounded by so many reuniting couples, it was blatantly obvious what had him so upset when Jellal realized there were still two members of Fairy Tail who were not amongst the joyful crowd.   
  “Lucy!” Natsu’s despairing exclamation immediately darkened the mood of the celebrating guild members. “Where’s Lucy? And Cana?!”   
  When no answer came, only stunned realization from his friends, Natsu whipped around to glare at all of them. “We defeated Keyes, right? His curses should be broken too! Whatever he did to them, shouldn’t they be safe now?!”   
  “Calm down man-“ Gray started, but was cut off by another furious eruption of flames from the dragon slayer. Instinctively, he pushed Juvia back.   
  “How can I calm down when I still don’t know where Lucy is?!” He roared, causing the air around him to heat up and expand, his guildmates groaning in protest. “I promised to always protect her, and I did it, didn’t I? No... I fought Keyes with everything I had to bring her back, and it still wasn’t enough.”   
  When no one responded again, his shoulder slumped forward and the heat suddenly disappeared. “I-I promised,” This time when he spoke, his voice had dropped and he had never sounded more defeated. “I promised... I would tell her today.”   
  Upon realizing what he meant, Erza’s eyes widened. “Natsu...”   
  Despite being forced by Gray to stand behind him, Juvia pushed past her boyfriend and was the first to approach Natsu. She placed a cool hand on his shoulder, the effect instantaneous as all the tension began to disappear from his body, leaving him trembling. He rested his forehead on the water mage’s shoulder, pushing his nose into her. Happy, who had started to cry, flew over and landed on Natsu, clutching tightly as he sobbed for their missing partner.   
  “I- I’ve never seen him like this before,” Gray mumbled in somewhat of a state of shock. He knew the extent of Natsu’s feelings for Lucy, but he had never expected to see him so distraught.   
  “Could Keyes have done something to them that wasn’t a curse?” Erza wondered aloud. “But even then, wouldn’t anything he have done been canceled out when he was slain?”   
  “Yes,” Jellal drew their attention upwards with his face to the sky. “It just took some time to be undone. Look.”   
  A crack ran across the clouds itself, much like it had when the dragon slayers fell from the ethernano dimension just outside theirs after defeating Acnologia. The very fabric of time and space, opening up as Keyes’s power completely and finitely faded from the world.   
  And from that crack came the screams of two girls as they plummeted from their inter-dimensional prison. One brunette and one blonde, the members of Fairy Tail who had been missing when Jellal and his team had arrived. While most of the group on the ground were stunned by their sudden arrival, two of the wizards leapt into action.    
  “Lucy!” Cana shrieked, reaching for her friend, but the two of them separated quite quickly in free fall.   
  “Happy!” Natsu exclaimed desperately, and his partner gave an intensely gleeful _‘Aye, sir!’_ as he spread his wings and pulled Natsu from the ground. The combination of Exceed and dragon slayer, familiar in its own right, rocketed through the sky toward Lucy faster than anyone had seen either of her boys move. Natsu plucked his partner out of her free fall effortlessly, and Happy was already a mess of emotions when he set them both on the ground gently.   
  Lucy screamed and gasped all at once, in shock that it was all over so suddenly. She stared up at her partner for a moment in silence before speaking, her voice trembling.   
  “Natsu...?” She sounded as though she didn’t believe it was really him.   
  At the sound of her voice, the tears that had been so close to falling, that had threatened him before spilled forth silently. But there was a smile on Natsu’s face, a smile of so many emotions all at once. Relief. Guilt. Anger. Frustration. Protectiveness. Love.   
  He placed a hand on the top of her head, reminiscent of the gesture he had once offered the Lucy of the future during the events before the dragons descended upon Crocus. And he pressed his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes and revelled in having her so close to him once again.   
  “Lucy,” was all he whispered, before she too, crumbled into tears.   
  It was Jellal who rushed to catch Cana before she struck the ground. With no Exceed to take him into the sky, Jellal positioned himself beneath her; he crouched, leaning his hand down in preparation as he gathered the little magical power that had returned to him.   
  And then instantly Jellal sprang up, surrounded by the blinding light of his magic. Like a celestial body, he swiftly met Cana in the sky and landed with the Cards Mage safe in his arms. As quickly as the moment had occurred, it was over and relief flooded his face with both Lucy and Cana finally safe.   
  “Thanks, big guy,” Cana planted a kiss on his cheek, which left Jellal stunned. “But ya might wanna put me down, wouldn’t want to make Erza jealous would we?”   
  With his face turning the shade of the aforementioned wizard’s hair, Jellal gently set Cana down on her feet.   
  As the guild took that cue to surround both girls and tears were shed, Jellal couldn’t help but realize he would’ve never felt like he did now if he hadn’t joined Fairy Tail. It was pride, but a pride that burst forward as magical power over the family that was their guild. His eyes settled on the flash of scarlet that wrapped around Lucy and shoved Natsu out of the way. He had protected this family.   
  It was a guild - a family - that he now belonged to.  
  


~  
  
  
  “We do have something very serious to discuss, however,” Erza spoke authoritatively to the guildmates before her. Once the tearful reunions with Lucy and Cana and the rest of the guild had been calmed down, the wizards had all moved back inside Fairy Tail and several of them had left to fetch Porlyusica. “And that would be the information Keyes told us about why he had attacked our guild in such a manner.”  
  Erza had then gathered a group of the wizards who had been involved in the incident, including those present at the guild who had learned the secret of the Fairy Tail previously.  
  “Right, that there is a new Fairy Heart amongst our members, which someone could potentially use to create another Lumen Histoire,” Levy agreed.  
  “It troubles me as to how Keyes would have come across such information,” Jellal muttered darkly, his face concerned. “And how he even knew what the Lumen Histoire was. He believed that Lucy or Cana have the same abilities as the first master, because they’ve both learned one of the sacred Fairy spells of the guild.”  
  “But didn’t that happen because Master Mavis had the Ankhseram curse cast on her?” Gray crossed his arms. “She was immortal, but was left somewhere between alive and dead because Zeref’s curse had been around far longer, and was stronger than hers, and also because he loved her but she hadn’t returned that same love for him. That’s what we learned from Master Mavis and Zeref during the fight against Alvarez. The curse of Contradiction worked on another immortal because she was the one he felt for most in the world.”  
  “Realistically, he couldn’t make another Lumen Histoire with Cana or Lucy even if they were the next Fairy Heart either, because neither of them had the curse set upon them,” Mira expressed softly. “And I don’t think that curse is something you could force upon someone. It seems to me the person themselves has to wish to defy death or the cycle of life. Brainwashing, or mind control, that wouldn’t change the fact that the target wouldn't truly feel the way that makes Ankhseram punish people.”  
  “I think we’re giving Keyes too much credit,” Erza answered. “I can’t imagine he had the entirety of his attack planned out. If I had to guess, this is what he knew:  
  One, that Fairy Tail was hiding the secret of the Lumen Histoire. The only explanation for this would be Zeref telling him at some point, or he heard it from one of the Spriggan 12. Two, that the Lumen Histoire is created from a member of our a guild. Three, Mavis could perform all three of the Fairy Spells, and only passed down Fairy Law. No one besides her has ever used Fairy Glitter or Fairy Sphere, until Cana and Lucy,” She gritted her teeth. “I think he was going on a whim with what he was going to do to Cana and Lucy. He had no idea how to make them into the Lumen Histoire, only believing that one of them has the potential for it.”  
  “But we have no way of knowing which one it could be,” Gajeel pointed out grimly.  
  “Is there any proof that one of them is it at all?” Erik suggested with a cynical sigh. “Or are people just gonna keep coming after them for no reason?”  
  Jellal was especially disturbed by this thought as he glanced at Erza.  
  There was the soft sound of whimpering, which drew everyone’s attention. It was Lucy, trying desperately to hide the tears that were coming down her face. Every member gathered there understood why. Both she and Cana had described the dimension that Keyes had locked them in. The unending darkness had made time stretch on forever. If they hadn’t had he each other - grasping hands the entire time so as not to float apart - they could’ve easily been driven insane. Undoubtedly, she was upset over the thought of having to go through something even remotely like that again. That the lust for power was so great in some people, some dark wizards or corrupted masters or something of the like, that there was a very real possibility of having to endure worse. Though she was already tucked against him, Natsu pulled his partner in closer to comfort her.  
 Jellal sighed. “Unfortunately, I don’t really think there’s a way of determining which of them it is, or if either Cana or Lucy are truly the Fairy Heart.”  
  “You’re kidding right? It’s obviously Lucy,” Cana got on her feet, leaning over the table. Everyone’s attention immediately went to her. “And I’d bet she really is the new Fairy Heart! There’s no one else who’s ever been in Fairy Tail more similar to Mavis Vermilion than her. Not only did Lucy use Fairy Sphere against Acnologia, which is what made her the target, but she loves Fairy Tail more than anyone else I could ever know. She believes in Fairy Tail more than anyone else. Remember during the end of the Battle of Fairy Tail, when everyone was arguing, yelling at each other even while Gray made it apparent that we were running out of time?” She threw her thumb in the direction of Lucy. “She was the only one who rallied everybody, because even though she hadn’t been in our guild all that long, she loved it more than all of us back then. She showed us all up, I even remember Macao congratulating her on getting all our heads out of our asses. During our war against Tartaros, she saved all of us by herself! And after the guild broke up... she kept track of everyone, was the only one willing to reach out and ask everyone to return to our home. She barely knew me as more than a guildmate, no where near the level at which she knew Natsu and Gray, and yet she partnered up with me against them for the S-class trials on Tenrou Island. We might’ve ended up fighting Freed and Bickslow, but we could’ve very well been put up against Natsu and Happy, her damn partners! Lucy went against them for me, because I asked her! Because I needed her help!”  
  When no one said a word, Cana sneered and crossed her arms, continuing her point. “This isn’t about just the damn spells... what makes Lucy the Fairy Heart, what makes the Lumen Histoire such a powerful weapon... is the love she has for the guild. No one alive loves Fairy Tail like Lucy Heartfilia.”  
  The aforementioned female stared in shock at her friend, listening to her long speech. After a while, she drew in a shaky breath. “You’re right... I love Fairy Tail more than anything. But that makes everything so much more painful,” her voice was soft, but when she spoke again it got even quieter. Jellal had to strain his ears to hear her. “If I’m the new Fairy Heart, then I’m putting everyone in danger by being with the guild.”  
   Immediately, everyone around the table began to protest. Even Jellal himself; Lucy had been part of the light that saved him, too. He’d just as quickly put himself between her and danger as he would Erik or Meredy. The protests seemed to only hurt Lucy more, however, as he saw her bite her lip, holding back something whether that be tears or anger. He understood her frustration. She didn’t ask for this. When Lucy joined Fairy Tail, she wanted a family that she could live with, laugh with, love so wholeheartedly and where she could be herself; none of them could anticipate it would only lead to making her a target for those who might learn of the Lumen Histoire.  
   Natsu got to his feet, instantly silencing everyone. Lucy looked up to him, and in that moment Jellal wasn’t sure what they communicated to one another but he saw Lucy’s eyes widen. Her partner clenched his fists, and Jellal was almost worried he would burst into flames just as quickly as he had while fighting Keyes - he looked so furious.  
  “After everything, we would never give you up Lucy,” Natsu answered through gritted teeth. “We wouldn’t do it back against Phantom Lord, and we sure as hell wouldn’t do it now. If anyone other than you even suggested it, I’d torch them on the spot!”  
  Lucy looked down to her lap, smiling gently to herself. “You’re right, Natsu... I shouldn’t have even thought of it. I would never want to leave, I... will always fight to protect Fairy Tail.”  
  The group of wizards were silent for a moment, until Erza cleared her throat.  
  “We’ll have to be extra vigilant in who knows this information,” she concluded. “The secret of the Lumen Histoire was exposed by Zeref, but that doesn’t mean people have to know it can be created again. And, if at all possible, I’d like to keep the people who know Lucy is the new Fairy Heart to those present in this room.”  
  “I’m the new secret of Fairy Tail,” Lucy said softly. “But I can’t promise that I won’t give myself up if something like this happens again. This guild means everything to me. My family means everything, and you all got hurt because of my love for Fairy Tail.”  
  “And we love you too, Lucy,” Mira answered in her melodically sweet voice, reaching over and putting her hand on top of Lucy’s on the table. “That’s why we won’t let you do anything like that.”  
   “You really are just like Master Mavis, Lu,” Levy shook her head. “Willing to do anything to protect the guild. You’re more important than the secret. You’re our family.”  
   “I suppose we’ll just have to protect Lucy from anyone who might come looking for the Fairy Heart,” Jellal smirked, looking at the dragon slayer beside her. “Think you can handle that?”  
  Natsu clenched his fists at his side. “I’d already do that. No one’s ever getting through me.”  
  Lucy got to her feet, grabbing his arm. Natsu looked down at her for a moment, and for the first time his expression softened. When he spoke again, the same determination was there, but his voice was gentle.  
  “No one’s ever gonna hurt Lucy again.”  
  


~

  
  “You should be celebrating with everyone else, Jellal.”   
  Jellal broke his gaze from watching the other members of the guild. He was particularly unable to keep his eyes away from the dragon slayer and his celestial wizard, who couldn’t have separated for more than a few minutes since being reunited. He looked up to see the source of his strength, the brightest beacon of hope in his life, join his side. Erza gave him a sly smile.   
  He groaned and leaned back against his hands. “Nah, think I’ll leave the celebrating for the people who weren’t at the real party. Wendy’s magic is getting better and better all the time, but I’m still almost too exhausted to stay awake.”   
  “Hm, you could lean on me then. I don’t mind,” he heard her laugh.   
  Jellal made a slight guffaw in protest. “Are you making fun of me?”   
  “Hardly. I don’t think anyone fought more than you did. Natsu and Gray might have fueled their magic with their fury, but there was one point at the beginning where you were the only thing standing between Keyes and our guild.”   
  “They were driven like that because Keyes had hurt the girls they love,” Jellal glanced up at her. “I was furious like that too, at first. When I saw you had been hurt.”   
  There it was, that sweet blush she did that he found so endearing. Erza was always so confident, but he found she shied away a bit when he was as open with his feelings as he wanted to be. His smile widened a bit more when he felt her take his hand.   
  Jellal looked back toward the guild again, toward the wizards he had been watching before.   
  “I’m sorta disappointed. I thought Natsu would’ve taken the opportunity I gave him to confess how he feels to Lucy like he said he was going to. So he chickened out in the end, did he?”   
  “I knew he wouldn’t be able to after that,” Erza spoke fondly of her guildmate. “It seemed like the perfect moment of course, especially after what Lucy said about leaving Fairy Tail to make sure no one gets hurt again. But Natsu has never been one to do things the same way other people do. I think it’ll happen either in the middle of a guild brawl or while he’s on a job with her, just the two of them.”   
  He chuckled. “Still, it would’ve been something rather nice for the guild to celebrate after the day we’ve had.”   
  “We are celebrating; that everyone is safe now. Besides, I can’t imagine Lucy is completely unaware of how he feels,” she continued. “When Natsu first confided in Gray and I that he had feelings for her, he actually wasn’t that bad at hiding it. However, as time went on he became more obvious and once Mira knew pretty much the entire guild did. So I think that Lucy has at least some idea.”   
  He turned his attention toward the two of them again, where Natsu sat next to Lucy with his arm around her shoulders as he argued with Gray. His rival was sitting with an arm drawn around Juvia’s waist. Honestly the only difference Jellal could see between the two pairs was that one was dating and expecting a baby.   
  “Lucy isn’t exactly subtle with how she feels either, but Natsu isn’t well versed in social cues like that,” Erza noted with a smirk.   
  “Unbelievable,” he shook his head. “They both told you, and you aren’t going to do a thing about it?   
  “I intend to let it happen naturally.”   
  Once again shaking his head at Erza’s answer, he waited a moment before speaking again.   
  “She’s his strength... just like you are mine.”   
  Erza stumbled over her words in response, but Jellal didn’t even notice as he sat up, brushing his hand over her cheek. But he kept going, leaning over and  stealing a kiss from her.   
  When he pulled back, her face matched her hair and there was a dreamy look in her eyes. It never mattered whether she was in the middle of a fight, scolding Natsu and Gray for their antics, or simply caught flustered in a moment like this; she was always the most beautiful woman in the world to him. It was almost embarrassing how much he was enamored with her, if Jellal wasn’t completely sure of himself and their relationship. All was well - perfect, even - until Erza gathered her bearings again.   
  “Shouldn’t you not be kissing other woman, lest your fiancée finds out?”   
  Jellal choked on the very air. “Are you ever going let me forget about that?”   
  “Not for a little longer,” she teased, before boldly returning the gesture.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr, @ship-ambrosia. I post lots of my writing there, and also love to freak out about Fairy Tail and other fandoms!


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